In Piaget's sensorimotor stage, which concept is developed through exploration?

In Piaget's sensorimotor stage, which concept is developed through exploration?

• A. Object permanence and trial-and-error exploration
• B. Conservation of mass
• C. Abstract reasoning
• D. Formal operations

Answer: (A)

Infants in the sensorimotor stage learn about objects by acting on the world, with a key milestone being object permanence—the realization that objects continue to exist even when they’re out of sight. They also develop knowledge through trial-and-error exploration, repeating actions to see what results they produce and gradually coordinating their actions to achieve goals. This combination—recognizing that objects persist and exploring how things work through direct interaction—captures what this stage is about. The other ideas appear later: understanding that mass stays the same despite rearrangement (conservation) emerges in the concrete operational stage, while abstract reasoning and formal operations develop in adolescence, not infancy.

Infants in the sensorimotor stage learn about objects by acting on the world, with a key milestone being object permanence—the realization that objects continue to exist even when they’re out of sight. They also develop knowledge through trial-and-error exploration, repeating actions to see what results they produce and gradually coordinating their actions to achieve goals. This combination—recognizing that objects persist and exploring how things work through direct interaction—captures what this stage is about.

The other ideas appear later: understanding that mass stays the same despite rearrangement (conservation) emerges in the concrete operational stage, while abstract reasoning and formal operations develop in adolescence, not infancy.