The Sensorimotor Stage
Jean Piaget's cognitive-developmental theory states that children form knowledge as they manipulate and explore their world. He also believed that schemes-organized ways of making sense of experience, change with age. Because this cognitive modification so vast, Piaget divided his theory into four stages by age (Berk, 2012, pg. 19, 204):
- Sensorimotor: Birth-2 years
- Preoperational: 2-7 years
- Concrete Operational: 7-11 years
- Formal Operational: 11 years on
The sensorimotor stage occurs during infancy and toddlerhood. Like the cognitive-developmental theory itself, the sensorimotor stage is divided into six age subgroups due to the vast change in the first two years of life. Newborns transform their primary reflexes ( i.e. rooting, sucking, swimming) into a problem-solving type of thinking (Knobloch & Pasamanick; Prechtl & Beintema, 1965; Thelen, Fisher, & Ridley-Johnson, 1984). However, some children experience cognitive delay.
A group of psychiatrists from the University of Toronto studied the correlation between maternal separation and cognitive performance. They tested a group of 39 mother-infant pairs, administering mother-separation (Age 2, 6, 10-months) and cognitive assessments (Age 4, 8, 13-month old). Each infant was placed with their mother in a room. When the mother left the room, measuring the latency, duration, and intensity of the infant's distress. Age-appropriate cognitive assessments were administered during the months in between. The results showed that 2 month-old infants who became distressed soon after separation had low cognitive assessment scores. However at 6 and 10-months, infants who became distressed soon after separation scored higher on the cognitive assessments (Lewis, Koroshegyi, Douglas & Kampe, 1997).
According to the study, an infant's latency, or control, of distress is stabilized by 6-months (Developmental Psychology, 1997, pp. 37). In the sensorimotor stage, infants at 6-months, improve the control of their behavior in order to imitate familiar behaviors (Berk, 2012, pp. 206). Since infants learn to control their behavior at this age, the high cognitive scores from the study provide evidence of Piaget's theory. However, children at 2-months are still limited to movements around the body, and have a little anticipation of events (Berk, 2012, pp. 206). This limited anticipation could cause confusion low latency to distress, resulting in low cognitive test scores. Unlike Piaget's Theory, infants that young of age still need help and stimulation from a parent. The low cognitive assessment scores in the study could provide evidence to cognitive delay due to sepertion or neglect from the parent.
The sensorimotor stage is crucial to special education. Disabilities can be found at any time in a child's life. By understanding how a particular student developed as a child and how it affects their current developement, I can make assessment appropriate for their cognitive level (1.2). For cognitively delayed students, promoting organizational skills will give them the skills to be more independent and successful (2.9). Also designing assessment that generates student-made work can help cognitively dealyed students to form new schemes and develop a problem-solving type of thought (2.8).