Piaget's Stages

991 Words4 Pages
Kelly Cline Professor Michael Lee Sociology 101 September 20, 2013 Piaget's Stages of Cognitive Development The first stage of Piaget’s four stage process is called the Sensorimotor Stage. This lasts from when the child is born until they are around 2 years old. This particular stage is divided into six sub-stages and is where basic reflexes are acquired. The six substages are: 1) Simple Reflexes – These are reflexes that are considered “primary” like closing of the hand in response to palm contact or following objects with the eyes. 2) First habits and primary circular reactions phase – This is where the infant learns to repeat actions. Passive reactions also begin within this phase. 3) Secondary circular reactions phase – In this stage the infant learns to grasp for items intentionally and determine how to get what they want. They learn what action by them causes a desirable outcome. Example: grasping a cereal puff with the hand allows them to put it in their mouth. 4) Coordination of secondary circular-reactions stages – This is the stage where the child begins to develop logic. Basically they learn what actions cause what results. 5) Tertiary circular reactions, novelty and curiosity – This is the stage where Piaget refers to the child as the “young scientist.” There are large amounts of experimenting taking place at this point. The second stage in the process is the Preoperational stage. This lasts from age 2 until age 7. This is a very important stage in the child’s development as it is where they develop their imagination and fantasy. Children engage in make believe and can understand and express relationships between the past and the future. They begin to use objects symbolically or even imagine objects that aren’t there at all. There are two sub-stages in this particular stage: 1) Symbolic function substage –
Open Document