Week 3 Post 2

While reading through Chapter 6 to review for this week's quiz, there was a large section on Piaget's theory of sensorimotor intelligence.  Sensorimotor intelligence is Piaget's term for the way infants think during their first period of cognitive development, by using their senses and motor skills.  There are six stages of sensorimotor intelligence that span out during the first two years of an infant's life.  In each stage, sensation, perception and cognition cycle back and forth in what is called circular reactions.  Stages one and two involve primary circular reactions, which involve the infant's own body.  Stages three and four involve secondary reactions, which involves interactions between the baby and something else, like people and objects.  Stages five and six involve tertiary circular reactions, which involve active experimentation of new activities.  When thinking about how a baby grows up and develops, in my prior experience with dealing with infants, Piaget's six stages of sensorimotor intelligence follow with what I have observed in infants.