SENSORIMOTOR PERIOD

SRI WATI ASTUTE AR

• COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT PROBABLY BEGINS BEFORE BIRTH, BUT SINCE
PIAGET’S OBSERVATIONS STAR AT THAT POINT, THAT IS WHERE WE SHALL
BEGIN. TO THOSE WHO ARE PREPARING FOR SOME KIND OF WORK IN PUBLIC
EDUCATION, EVEN THAT MAY SEEM TOO EARLY; BUT REMEMBER THAT AUR
OBJECTIVE IS TO UNDERSTAND INTELLECTUAL DEVELOPMENT. GIVEN THAT
OBJECTIVE, THE EARLIEST ADAPTATIONS MUST BE RECOGNIZED AS
FUNDAMENTAL. LATER DEVELOPMENT ARE BUILT UPON FOUNDATIONS LAID IN
INFANCY
 THE SIX STAGE

• PROBABLY NO OTHER FEATURE OF PIAGET’S SYSTEM HAS BEEN OPPOSED WITH SO MUCH
VIGOR AS HIS CONCEPTION OF STAGE.
THE CRITICS SAY :
• “THERE ARE SO MANY INFLUENCES ON CHILD’S DEVELOPMENT”
• “HOW COULD THEY POSSIBLY COMBINE TO PRODUCE THE SAME STAGE OF DEVELOPMENT IN
EVERY CHILD OF GIVEN AGE?”
• PIAGET HAS NOT GIVEN A COMPLETELY SATISFACTORY ANSWER TO THOSE CRITICS
 THE CONCEPT OF STAGE CAN BE USEFUL IF WE KEEP
IN MIND THREE THINGS ;
1. THAT DIFFERENT CHILDREN MAY PASS THROUGH THE SEQUENCE OF STAGE AT DIFFERENT
RATES
2. THAT EACH STAGE IS NAMED FOR THE PROSES THAT HAS MOST RECENTLY BECOME
OPERATIVE, EVEN THOUGH OTHERS MAY BE OPERATING AT THE SAME TIME
3. THAT EACH IS THE FORMATION OF TOTAL STRUCTURE THAT INCLUDES ITS PREDECESSORS
WITHIN AS NECESSARY SUBSTRUCTURES
 STAGE 1
EXERCISING THE READY-MADE
SENSORIMOTOR SCHEMATA (0-1 MONTH)
• THE INFANT IS BORN WITH A NUMBER OF SENSORIMOTOR MECHANISMS “WIRED IN” (A
FAMILIAR TERM FOR THEM IS REFLEXES”)
• THE INFANT MAKES ORIENTING RESPONSE TO LIGHT OR SOUND; HIS HANDS GRASP AN
OBJECT PLACED IN HIS PALM; HE SUCK WHEN HIS LIP ARE TOUCHED; HE VOCALIZES, WAVES
HIS ARNS, ETC., UN RESPONSE TO ANY STRONG STIMULUS.
• THIS NOT A COMPLETE LIST OF INNATE MECHANISMS; HOWEVER, THE LIST NOT BE EXTENDED
HERE, FOR PIAGET IS NOT INTERESTED IN HEREDITARY ORGANIZATIONS AS SUCH, BUT RATHER
IN THE ALTERATIONS THAT OCCUR IN THEM AS THE CHILD INTERACTS WITH HIS ENVIRONMENT.