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Sensorimotor stage | psychology | Britannica
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One of Piaget’s fundamental assumptions is…</p><a class="read-more" href="/topic/human-behavior/Piagets-theory#ref390895">Read More</a></li><li><div class="md-assembly-wrapper card-media " data-type="image"><img src="https://cdn.britannica.com/77/148277-050-A36E74C3/Palmar-grasp-reflex-newborn.jpg?w=300" alt="inherited reflex" data-width="800" data-height="531" loading="lazy"></div> <span class="index-xref">In <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/human-behavior/Judgment#ref390932" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">human behaviour: Piaget’s observations</a></span><p class="topic-paragraph">…of mental development as the sensorimotor stage (birth to two years). This stage is marked by the child’s acquisition of various sensorimotor schemes, which may be defined as mental representations of motor actions that are used to obtain a goal; such actions include sucking, grasping, banging, kicking, and throwing. The…</p><a class="read-more" href="/topic/human-behavior/Judgment#ref390932">Read More</a></li></ul></section><section><h3>intelligence and thought processes</h3><ul class="list-unstyled"><li><div class="md-assembly-wrapper card-media " data-type="image"><img src="https://cdn.britannica.com/89/198089-050-C6DDBEC4/Jean-Piaget.jpg?w=300" alt="Jean Piaget" data-width="1134" data-height="1600" loading="lazy"></div> <span class="index-xref">In <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Jean-Piaget#ref179722" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Jean Piaget</a></span><p class="topic-paragraph">…life as being in a sensorimotor stage, chiefly concerned with mastering his own innate physical reflexes and extending them into pleasurable or interesting actions. During the same period, the child first becomes aware of himself as a separate physical entity and then realizes that the objects around him also have…</p><a class="read-more" href="/biography/Jean-Piaget#ref179722">Read More</a></li><li><div class="md-assembly-wrapper card-media " data-type="image"><img src="https://cdn.britannica.com/65/9065-004-0B6CF0EB/Lewis-Terman.jpg?w=300" alt="Lewis Terman" data-width="240" data-height="300" loading="lazy"></div> <span class="index-xref">In <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/human-intelligence-psychology/Development-of-intelligence#ref82702" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">human intelligence: The work of Jean Piaget</a></span><p class="topic-paragraph">The first, the sensorimotor period, extends from birth through roughly age two. During this period, a child learns how to modify reflexes to make them more adaptive, to coordinate actions, to retrieve hidden objects, and, eventually, to begin representing information mentally. The second period, known as preoperational, runs…</p><a class="read-more" href="/science/human-intelligence-psychology/Development-of-intelligence#ref82702">Read More</a></li></ul></section><section><h3>preschool education theories</h3><ul class="list-unstyled"><li> <span class="index-xref">In <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/preschool-education/Modern-theories#ref253791" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">preschool education: Modern theories</a></span><p class="topic-paragraph">The first two periods—sensorimotor intelligence (from birth until age two) as well as representative intelligence (from two to seven or eight)—relate to the field of early childhood. In the first stage (sensorimotor) the child learns to use his muscles and senses to deal with external objects and events…</p><a class="read-more" href="/topic/preschool-education/Modern-theories#ref253791">Read More</a></li></ul></section></section></div> </div> </div> </div> <aside class="col-md-da-320" data-page="1"></aside> </div> </div> </div> </div> </article></div> </div></div> </div> </main> <div id="md-footer"></div> <noscript><iframe src="//www.googletagmanager.com/ns.html?id=GTM-5W6NC8" height="0" width="0" style="display:none;visibility:hidden"></iframe></noscript> <script type="text/javascript" id="_informizely_script_tag"> var IzWidget = IzWidget || {}; (function (d) { var scriptElement = d.createElement('script'); scriptElement.type = 'text/javascript'; scriptElement.async = true; scriptElement.src = "https://insitez.blob.core.windows.net/site/f780f33e-a610-4ac2-af81-3eb184037547.js"; var node = d.getElementById('_informizely_script_tag'); node.parentNode.insertBefore(scriptElement, node); } )(document); </script> <!-- Ortto ebmwprod capture code --> <script> window.ap3c = window.ap3c || {}; var ap3c = window.ap3c; ap3c.cmd = ap3c.cmd || []; ap3c.cmd.push(function() { ap3c.init('ZO4siT4cLwnykPnzZWJtd3Byb2Q', 'https://engage.email.britannica.com/'); ap3c.track({v: 0}); }); ap3c.activity = function(act) { ap3c.act = (ap3c.act || []); ap3c.act.push(act); }; var s, t; s = document.createElement('script'); s.type = 'text/javascript'; s.src = "https://engage.email.britannica.com/app.js"; t = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; t.parentNode.insertBefore(s, t); </script> <script class="marketing-page-info" type="application/json"> {"pageType":"Topic","templateName":"INDEX","pageNumber":1,"pagesTotal":1,"pageId":534803,"pageLength":0,"initialLoad":true,"lastPageOfScroll":false} </script> <script class="marketing-content-info" type="application/json"> [] </script> <script src="https://cdn.britannica.com/mendel-resources/3-130/js/libs/jquery-3.5.0.min.js?v=3.130.14"></script> <script type="text/javascript" data-type="Init Mendel Code Splitting"> (function() { $.ajax({ dataType: 'script', cache: true, url: 'https://cdn.britannica.com/mendel-resources/3-130/dist/topic-page.js?v=3.130.14' }); })(); </script> <script class="analytics-metadata" type="application/json"> {"leg":"B","adLeg":"B","userType":"ANONYMOUS","pageType":"Topic","pageSubtype":null,"articleTemplateType":"INDEX","gisted":false,"pageNumber":1,"hasSummarizeButton":false,"hasAskButton":false} </script> <script type="text/javascript"> EBStat={accountId:-1,hostnameOverride:'webstats.eb.com',domain:'www.britannica.com', json:''}; </script> <script type="text/javascript"> ( function() { $.ajax( { dataType: 'script', cache: true, url: '//www.britannica.com/webstats/mendelstats.js?v=1' } ) .done( function() { try {writeStat(null,EBStat);} catch(err){} } ); })(); </script> <div id="bc-fixed-dialogue"></div> </body> </html>