Document Type

Book Chapter

Publication Date

4-25-2025

Keywords

cognition, cognitive development, infancy, Jean Piaget, sensorimotor period

Disciplines

Developmental Psychology

Abstract

The developing mind does not merely follow a linear trajectory—say from knowing little to knowing more. Instead, the mind appears to actively organize information into coherent structures. According to Jean Piaget, these mental organizations – referred to as schemas – go through qualitatively distinct stages, the first of which is the sensorimotor period. Cognition at this stage is characterized by a reliance on reflexes and primary sense, rather than on symbolic or abstract thought. The argument is that children younger than 2 years base their cognition on immediate actions-perception loops, making distinctive mistakes when the task requires an ability to represent hidden events. In what follows, we provide a brief overview of the sensorimotor substages, after which we discuss how the claims of a sensorimotor period have affected the field of cognitive development.

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