Describe Piaget's sensorimotor stage and a milestone associated with it.

• A. Between birth and age 1 year; infants begin to speak.
• B. Ages 3 to 6; development of symbolic thought.
• C. Ages 7 to 11; logical thinking emerges.
• D. Birth to about 2 years; infants learn through senses and actions; milestones include object permanence and goal-directed behavior.

Answer: (D)

The main idea is Piaget’s sensorimotor stage, which covers birth to about 2 years. In this period, infants learn by acting on the world and using their senses, moving from reflexive responses to purposeful, coordinated actions. A central milestone is object permanence—the understanding that objects still exist even when out of sight. Another important milestone is goal-directed behavior, where actions become purposeful and aimed at achieving specific outcomes, not just random movements. This description matches the stage’s age range, its learning through senses and actions, and its hallmark milestones. The other options point to later stages—language and symbolic thought during the preoperational stage, or logical thinking during the concrete operational stage—so they don’t fit this sensorimotor period.