Final answer:
The infant is in the sensorimotor stage of development according to Piaget's theory, where they learn about the world through senses and motor behaviors and develop object permanence. This stage is crucial for laying the foundation for later cognitive development stages.
Step-by-step explanation:
Understanding Piaget's Sensorimotor Stage
According to Piaget's theory of cognitive development, the infant is in the first period of development known as the sensorimotor stage. This stage spans from birth to about 2 years old and is characterized by learning about the world predominantly through senses and motor behavior. During this critical period, infants explore their environment by putting objects in their mouths, shaking or banging them, and eventually develop the concept of object permanence, which is the understanding that objects continue to exist even when they are out of sight.
As Piaget studied cognitive development, he observed how infants reacted to a toy being hidden. This observation was crucial in understanding when children develop object permanence. Piaget suggested that infants early in the sensorimotor stage do not search for the hidden object, indicating that they do not yet have this understanding. However, it was later suggested by researchers such as Baillargeon that infants might have an innate understanding of objects and their properties, which contradicts some aspects of Piaget's theory.
The sensorimotor stage is fundamental as it lays the groundwork for future stages of cognitive development: the preoperational stage, concrete operational stage, and eventually the formal operational stage. These stages collectively describe how children progress from basic sensory and motor understanding to the ability to think abstractly and hypothetically.