In Piaget's theory, which stage lasts from birth to about two years and is characterized by learning through sensory impressions and motor activity?

• A. Preoperational Stage
• B. Sensorimotor Stage
• C. Concrete Operational
• D. Formal Operational

Answer: (B)

In Piaget's theory, the stage that lasts from birth to about two years is the one focused on learning through sensory impressions and motor activity. During this period, infants move from simple reflexes to more purposeful actions as they explore the world with their senses and their bodies. They start to coordinate what they see with what they do, gradually building mental representations of objects and events they interact with. This stage also marks the beginnings of object permanence—the understanding that things continue to exist even when not in sight—though this understanding becomes more solidified as they approach two years old. In contrast, later stages involve more complex forms of thinking: the preoperational stage (roughly ages two to seven) features growing language and symbolic thought but still has limits like egocentrism; the concrete operational stage (about seven to eleven) brings logical reasoning about concrete objects; and the formal operational stage (beginning around adolescence) introduces abstract reasoning and hypothetical thinking.