Cognitive Development
QUICK LOOK AT THE CHAPTER AHEAD
“Sensorimotor” refers to infants’ ability to interact with the physical environment using their bodies and, as they do, to develop increasingly effective cognitive structures.
There are six substages of the sensorimotor period.
Primary circular reactions describes the repetition of motor acts involving infants’ own bodies (sucking their fingers).
Secondary circular reactions mean that infants use their own bodies to act on the environment (shaking a rattle).
Coordination of secondary circular reactions refers to use of one action to help achieve another action (pushing a toy out of the way to get to a piece of cake).
Tertiary circular reactions are repetitions, but with a variation as infants explore the environment’s possibilities. Dropping a toy on a rug produces a different sound from dropping it on a wood floor.
Representational thought is the ability to picture objects, places, and events in the mind.
Object permanence refers to an infant’s understanding that an object exists when out of sight.
TERMS
Causality
Cognitive structures
Coordination of secondary circular reactions
Egocentrism
Habituate
Object permanence
Primary circular reactions
Recall memory
Representational thought
Secondary circular reactions
Sensorimotor
Spatial relationships
Tertiary circular reactions
Time
The competent infant is born ready to learn, and learning promotes development of the brain. Infants demonstrate learning by organizing their behavior in response to stimuli. To make sense of stimuli and to overcome the limitations of egocentrism (seeing the world only from their viewpoint), they coordinate information using their sensory, physical, mental, and perceptual abilities. Did you ever wonder what infants think about as they lie in their cribs? Probably not, but Piaget did—and his research made a lasting impression on studies of cognitive development.
PIAGET’S SENSORIMOTOR PERIODBy sensorimotor, Piaget meant that mental life begins with infants’ ability to interact with the physical environment using their bodies and, as they do, to develop increasingly effective cognitive structures. (Think of cognitive structures as blueprints that allow us to organize and adapt to our world.) Physical actions are joined by a growing awareness of how behavior affects the environment. There are four accomplishments in this period:
By sensorimotor, Piaget meant that mental life begins with infants’ ability to interact with the physical environment using their bodies and, as they do, to develop increasingly effective cognitive structures.
Spatial relationships—in and out, up and down, near and far
Stay updated, free articles. Join our Telegram channel
Full access? Get Clinical Tree
