Piagets Sensorimotor Stage

Piagets Sensorimotor StageSBackground*Born on august 9, 1896 in a small university town in Switzerland.

*Showed an early interest in nature and was published in a natural history magazine for an observation describing an albino sparrow when he was just 10 years old.

*He studied biology and epistemology (branch of philosophy focused on study of knowledge) when he was young

Background*Completed his undergrad with studies of natural sciences and two years later received the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.

*Moved to Paris where he worked at a boys institution standardizing an intelligence test and studied the mind

*Married in 1923 and had 3 children

*Published more than forty full-length books and more than a hundred articles in the field of child psychology

*Died on September 16, 1980

The Sensorimotor StagePiaget divides intellectual development into 4 Stages

* Sensorimotor * Pre-operational* Concrete operational* Formal operational

The 6 SubstagesStage 1- The Use of Reflexes (birth to 1 month)

The formation of schema are made through natural, inborn reflexes (e.g. sucking reflex)

Stage 2- Primary Circular Reactions (1 to 4 months)The child accidentally encounters a new experience and tries to repeat it. (e.g. sucking the thumb)

The 6 SubstagesStage 3- Secondary Circular Reactions (4 to 8 months)

The discovery of and reproduction ofan event external to the child. (e.g. repeatedlymoving an external object)

Stage 4- Coordination of Secondary Schemes (8 to 12 mo)

The coordination of different schemes to get a desired result (e.g. striking to get a box)The 6 SubstagesStage 5- Tertiary Circular Reactions (12-18 months)

Performing different actions to observe various outcomes. (e.g. hand at different angles under a faucet)

Stage 6- The Beginnings of Thought (18 mo. to 2 years)

Thinking before acting. (e.g. planning how to open a box to acquire its contents)HypothesisWe hypothesize that our child will follow the succession of schema presented as normal to each stage, based upon her age. She is 15 months old, therefore we believe she will have acquired the schema normal to stage 5.ExperimentThe experiment consisted of performing tests and observing the childs reactions to determine if she had acquired various schema to prove she had reached the stage appropriate for her age.

Stage 1- Reflexes

Piagets NormOur ResultDeterminationStage 1Child performs rooting reflexChild does not perform reflexChild has progressed from stage 1 Stage 2Stage 3Stage 4Stage 5Stage 6Stage 2- Primary Circular ReactionsThe child shows that she has the schema normal to the second stage by repeatedly playing with her own ears.

Piagets NormOur ResultDeterminationStage 1Child performs rooting reflexChild does not perform reflexChild has progressed from stage 1 Stage 2Performs egocentricCircular reactionsRepeatedly plays with earsChild has progressed from stage 2Stage 3Stage 4Stage 5Stage 6Stage 3- Secondary Circular ReactionsThe child is capable of moving the cups for no other reason than the pleasure of doing so.

Piagets NormOur ResultDeterminationStage 1Child performs rooting reflexChild does not perform reflexChild has progressed from stage 1 Stage 2Performs egocentricCircular reactionsRepeatedly plays with earsChild has progressed from stage 2Stage 3Performs external circular reactionsPlays with cups for pleasureChild has progressed from stage 3Stage 4Stage 5Stage 6Stage 4- Coordination of Secondary SchemesThe child displays that she has achieved object permanence and actively seeksout the toy when it is hidden. She will move the blanket to acquire to pick up the stuffed bear.

ExperimentPiagets NormOur ResultDeterminationStage 1Child performs rooting reflexChild does not perform reflexChild has progressed from stage 1 Stage 2Performs egocentricCircular reactionsRepeatedly plays with earsChild has progressed from stage 2Stage 3Performs external circular reactionsPlays with cups for pleasureChild has progressed from stage 3Stage 4Child displays object permanenceChild demonstrates object permanenceChild displays norms of stage 4Stage 5Stage 6ExperimentStage 5- Tertiary Circular Reactions

The child experiments with different tones and volumes while making vocalizations.

Piagets NormOur ResultDeterminationStage 1Child performs rooting reflexChild does not perform reflexChild has progressed from stage 1 Stage 2Performs egocentricCircular reactionsRepeatedly plays with earsChild has progressed from stage 2Stage 3Performs external circular reactionsPlays with cups for pleasureChild has progressed from stage 3Stage 4Child displays object permanenceChild demonstrates object permanenceChild displays norms of stage 4Stage 5Child performs trial-and-error actionsChild speaks loudly and softlyChild displays norms of stage 5Stage 6ExperimentStage 6- The Beginnings of ThoughtThe child is capable of deferred imitation in that she can imitate an action of another, but lacks the proper methods of expressing the action.

Piagets NormOur ResultDeterminationStage 1Child performs rooting reflexChild does not perform reflexChild has progressed from stage 1 Stage 2Performs egocentricCircular reactionsRepeatedly plays with earsChild has progressed from stage 2Stage 3Performs external circular reactionsPlays with cups for pleasureChild has progressed from stage 3Stage 4Child displays object permanenceChild demonstrates object permanenceChild displays norms of stage 4Stage 5Child performs trial-and-error actionsChild speaks loudly and softlyChild displays norms of stage 5Stage 6Shows the beginningof thoughtDisplays symbolismDisplays beginnings of stage 6ConclusionThe child we observed has exceeded the norms appropriate for stage 5. She demonstrates schema indicating a transition into stage six. Given that Piaget placed the beginnings of thought at roughly 18 months of age, the child has reached stage 6 about three months ahead of what he considered normal. ChallengesInability to acquire some footage, even over multiple visits.

Time restraints (limited number of visits)

Interpretation of observations

Inclement weather

BibliographyCrain, W. (2011) Theories of Development (Concepts and Applications). New Jersey. Prentice Hall

Ginsburg H.P. (1988) Piagets Theory of Intellectual Development. New Jersey. Prentice Hall

Phillips J. L. (1969) Orgins of Intellect: Piagets Theory. San Francisco. W. H. Freeman and Co.

Piaget. J, Inhelder B. (1969) The Psychology of the Child. New York. Basic Books Inc.

Wadsworth B. (1989) Piagets Thory of Cognitive and Affective Development. New York. Longman Inc.