The Six Substages of Cognitive Development in an Infant and Toddler

Jean Piaget, a Swiss developmental psychologist, defined the time in an infant and toddler's life as the sensorimotor stage. During this time, an infant and toddler learns about the world around him and tries to make sense of what he sees, hears and feels. Infants and toddlers use their five senses to gain knowledge. The end of the sensorimotor stage is the development of object permanence, or the understanding that an object exists when it is out of sight.

  1. Reflexes

    • This phase is the shortest and most basic of the sensorimotor stages. During this phase, which lasts from birth to 1 month of age, the infant learns about the world around her through inborn reflexes, such as sucking to eat, crying for attention and looking at faces and other objects to begin recognition.

    Primary Circular Reactions

    • This phase starts at 1 month and lasts until about 4 months. During this time, the infant is still learning through basic inborn reflexes, such as sucking and crying. However, he starts to learn that certain actions, such as crying or thumb sucking, will meet a need or provide him with pleasure. For this reason, the action is repeated or continued.

    Secondary Circular Reactions

    • This phase begins at 4 months and lasts until about 8 months. The infant begins to learn that her actions have a purpose, so she engages in a variety of activities to meet specific needs. She will make coughing noises for attention or pick up a toy to examine it with her hands, eyes and mouth.

    Coordination of Reactions

    • During this phase, which starts around 8 months and lasts until age 1, the infant starts to demonstrate intentional behaviors to meet specific needs. While the actions before might have accidentally met a need, these behaviors are purposeful. Infants and toddlers also begin to recognize the use for objects, such as a rattle to make noise or a blanket to cuddle with.

    Tertiary Circular Reactions

    • From about 1 year to 18 months, toddlers start exploring and experimenting within their comfort zones. They start to place toys inside of others to see how they fit, start playing with the television or other devices to see how they work and experiment with temper tantrums to gain attention or meet a need.

    Early Representational Thought

    • The end of the sensorimotor stage, culminating at about 2, shows the toddler beginning to engage in pretend play and developing an understanding of his world in a both mental and physical way, rather than purely physical. The toddler realizes when an object disappears or leaves it is not gone forever, such as when Mommy leaves for work or Daddy goes outside. This is object permanence.

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