What is developing during substage 2 of Piaget's sensorimotor stage (age 1 to 4 months)?

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BlackTom AI · Accepted Answer

To approach this question, I’ll map each option to what Piaget described in the sensorimotor stages.
Option A: 'The ability to organise reflexes into an action sequence.' This aligns with substage 2 (1–4 months), also called primary circular reactions, where infants begin to coordinate reflexes into simple, repeatable actions centered on their own body. For example, a reflex like sucking being combined with hand-to-mouth movement to form a basic sequence. This captures the essence of combining reflexes into a more organized, repeatable action pattern.
Option B: 'The ability to mentally represent objects.' Mental representation and, later, object permanence are developed in later substages (roughly around substage 4 and beyond, not yet in substage 2). So this overestimates the infant’s current capability at 1–4 months.
Option C: 'The ability to perform deliberate actions on objects.' Deliberate manipulation of external objects and goal-directed experimentation appear in later substages when infants start coordinating actions with external objects and show more intentional behavior, not the early primary circular reactions of substage 2.
Option D: 'The ability to modify bodily sensations such as hunger.' This describes more internal regulatory processes rather than sensorimotor coordination of reflexes; it doesn’t reflect the specific developmental shift of substage 2, which focuses on organizing external motor patterns derived from reflexes, not adjusting internal sensations.
In summary, Option A correctly identifies the developmental change in substage 2, while Options B, C, and D describe abilities that belong to later progressions or are not characteristic of this substage.

PSYC20008_2025_SM1 Exam: Developmental Psychology (PSYC20008_2025_SM1)- Requires Respondus LockDown Browser

What is developing during substage 2 of Piaget's sensorimotor stage (age 1 to 4 months)?

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