One substage of Piaget’s sensorimotor period is primary circular reactions. Which of the following is the best example of a primary circular reaction?

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Question restatement: The prompt asks you to identify which example best illustrates a primary circular reaction, a substage of Piaget’s sensorimotor period.
Option 1: 'An infant moves their legs in a kicking motion and enjoys the feeling of the movement; the infant continues to kick to experience the sensation.' This fits primary circular reaction nicely because the infant is repeating a body-centered, pleasurable action (kicking) to reproduce a sensation, which is the hallmark of primary circular reactions. It involves the infant’s own body and a circular, self-reinforcing behavior.
Option 2: 'An infant pushes a button on a toy and a song begins to play; the infant continues to push buttons to enjoy the sound.' This demonstrates a reaction to an external object’s effect (the toy) and resembles a secondary circular reaction, where the infant’s actions are aimed at producing external consequences rather than solely the sensation in the body.
Option 3: 'An infant drops a toy and it makes an interesting noise when it hits the floor. The infant then bangs the toy on a cabinet, hits the toy, and throws it to see what noise it makes.' Here the child is exploring effects of actions on the outside world and manipulating objects to observe outcomes, which again aligns more with secondary circular reactions or later behavior, not the self-focused repetition of a sensation characteristic of primary circular reactions.
Option 4: 'An infant drops a spoon off their high chair and it falls beneath the tray where the infant can't see it. She leans over and looks for the spoon, laughing when she sees it on the floor.' This is indicative of object permanence and recall of hidden objects, a cognitive development that occurs later and is not about circular reactions at all.
Synthesis: Among the choices, the first option most accurately reflects a primary circular reaction because it centers on repeating a self-generated bodily sensation (leg kicking) to reproduce the pleasurable experience, without reliance on external goals or outcomes. The remaining options depict behaviors aligned with secondary circular reactions, object–action experiments, or early object-permanence tasks, which are distinct from primary circular reactions.

One substage of Piaget’s sensorimotor period is primary circular reactions. Which of the following is the best example of a primary circular reaction?

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