In which substage of sensorimotor development would you first witness goal-directed behavior?

Why might newborns possess an imitation reflex?

-It contributes to caregiver-infant bonding
-It helps ensure survival of the newborn
-It may be due to "Mirror Neurons" in the human brain

Elliot left his backpack on the bus to school this morning. Even though his backpack is not at school with him, he still knows it exists on the bus. This demonstrates which of Piaget's concepts?

Rovee-Collier and her colleagues (1993) tied one end of a ribbon to a brightly colored mobile and tied the other end ties to an infant's ankle. What did these studies measure?

the order in which words are used

What is the relationship between MLU and chronological age?

As chronological age increases, MLU tends to increase

Telegraphic speech is characterized by

Nouns, verbs, and some modifiers

How well do infant IQ tests, such as the Bayley scales, predict later school success?

Performance on the Bayley language items predict language skills at ages 6-8

According to B.F. Skinner, when parents require that children's utterances of words be progressively closer to actual words before they are reinforced, this is called

Leah, a 9-month-old infant, watches as her mother pushes a button on a toy and the toy beeps. Several hours later, Leah pushes the button and the toy beeps. This is an example of

Research on infant-directed speech indicates that

it is used in many diverse languages

Wyatt has learned that his round ball is called a toy. When Wyatt sees an orange or a grapefruit, he calls these toys as well. His thought process BEST represents

According to psycho linguistic theory, language acquisition

is related to both inborn tendencies and environmental influences

Which of the following is TRUE?

Receptive vocabulary generally exceeds expressive vocabulary

How do primary and secondary circular reactions differ?

Primary focus on the body, whereas secondary focus on the environment

Referential language style focuses on _____, whereas expressive language style focuses on ______.

objects; social interactions

Susan Rose and her colleagues (2001) showed that visual recognition memory is

somewhat stable from age to age

In which substage of sensorimotor development would you first witness goal-directed behavior?

coordination of secondary schemes

during the second month of their life 6-8 weeks

Which is the BEST example of a simple reflex?

Turning toward the source of a loud noise

Emma is 7 months old. She shakes a rattle so it will make a noise she likes. This is an example of

Secondary circular reaction

What is the sensorimotor stage?

The sensorimotor stage is the first of four stages proposed by Jean Piaget to describe the cognitive development of infants, children, and adolescents. Piaget was a developmental biologist who became interested in closely observing and recording the intellectual abilities of children. Piaget proposed that cognitive development progressed in stages and categorized these stages by children’s ages.

Birth to approximately 2 years is the sensorimotor stage. The preoperational stage (ages 2-7) moves from toddlerhood through early childhood. The concrete operational stage is from ages 7-12. The formal operational stage occurs from 12 years into adulthood.1

Piaget recognized that children could pass through the stages at various ages other than what he proposed as normal, but he insisted that cognitive development always follows this sequence and that stages could not be skipped. Each stage marked new intellectual abilities and a more complex understanding of the world.2

The term “sensorimotor” was used by Piaget, because he believed that infants were dependent on their senses and their physical abilities to understand their world. Because they can see, hear, taste, and smell from birth, they combine these senses with their emerging physical abilities to interact with objects by grasping, shaking, banging, and tasting them. Their growing perceptions are based on past experiences, cognitive awareness, and their current use of their senses.3

During their early experiences, infants are only aware of what is immediately in front of them. Because they don’t understand how things react, they are constantly learning about the world through trial and error by shaking or throwing things and putting things in their mouths.4

Young infants are extremely egocentric; they have no understanding of the world apart from their own current point of view. A significant development during the sensorimotor stage is their understanding that objects exist and that events occur in the world independently from their own actions.5 Initially, objects only exist to infants when they can actually sense them and interact with them. They cease to exist to infants when they can no longer see them or sense them. When infants have achieved the ability to form a mental representation of the object, they will realize that the object still exists and can actively seek it. This ability is known as achieving object permanence.6

The Six substages in the sensorimotor stage

Piaget determined that cognitive development involved six substages in the sensorimotor stage:

Stage 1

Reflexes (newborns between birth and 1 month). Infants exercise, refine, and organize the reflexes of sucking, looking, listening, and grasping.

Stage 2

Primary circular reactions (infants between 1 and 4 months). Infants begin to adapt their reflexes as they interact with their environment. Actions that interest them are repeated over and over in circular reactions of actions and response to using their own bodies.

Stage 3

Secondary circular reactions (infants between 4 and 8 months). Infants repeat actions that involve objects, toys, clothing, or other persons. They might continue to shake a rattle to hear the sound or repeat an action that elicits a response from a parent to extend the reaction.

Stage 4

Coordination of secondary circular reactions (infants between 8 and 12 months). At this stage, infants’ behavior becomes goal-directed in trying to reach for an object or finding a hidden object indicating they have achieved object permanence. Emerging motor skills allow them to incorporate more of their environment into their activities.

Stage 5

Tertiary circular reactions (toddlers between 12 and 18 months). Toddlers become creative at this stage and experiment with new behaviors. They try variations of their original behaviors rather than repeating the same behaviors.

Stage 6

Mental combinations (toddlers between 18 and 24 months). True problem solving emerges at this stage where toddlers can mentally consider solutions to problems before taking any action. A more advanced concept of object permanence develops, which indicates that they are leaving the period of sensorimotor development and moving toward the preoperational period of thinking.

As infants achieve the ability to walk and coordinate several behaviors between the ages of 8 and 12 months, memory develops as demonstrated by the emergence of object permanence. Symbolic and pretend play are a result of the development of memory, and they reflect planning on the toddlers’ part.

The development of cognitive play was described by Piaget in three stages: practice play, symbolic play, and games with rules. Practice play appears during the sensorimotor period and involves some behavior that is repetitive. Symbolic play appears in the later months of the sensorimotor period and into the preoperational period. Symbolic play, also described as pretend play, emerges when an absent object is represented by another object. As the children move beyond their own actions, they begin to include other people or objects into their play. Attachment to significant adults and siblings indirectly affects pretend play, and those in a secure environment are more likely to play with their peers and engage in more complex and sustained play.7

During which substage of the sensorimotor period is goal directed behavior first observed?

Stage 4. Coordination of secondary circular reactions (infants between 8 and 12 months). At this stage, infants' behavior becomes goal-directed in trying to reach for an object or finding a hidden object indicating they have achieved object permanence.

What are the 6 substages of sensorimotor development?

Piaget separated his sensorimotor period into six sensorimotor substages: reflexive schemes, primary circular reactions, secondary circular reactions, coordination of secondary circular reactions, tertiary circular reactions, and mental representations [1–4].

Which substage of sensorimotor development serves as a transition to the symbolic thought of the next stage?

Finally, in substage six there is the beginning of symbolic thought. This is transitional to the pre operational stage of cognitive development. Babies can now form mental representations of objects. This means that they have developed the ability to visualise things that are not physically present.

What happens during the sensorimotor stage of development?

The sensorimotor stage typically takes place within the first two years of a child's life. It is marked by the child discovering the difference between themselves and their environment. At that point, they will use their senses to learn things about both themselves and their environment.