In which phase of cognitive development do infants primarily learn through sensations and actions?

The sensorimotor phase is the stage of cognitive development where infants primarily learn through direct sensory experiences and motor activities. This stage, according to Jean Piaget's theory, typically spans from birth to around 2 years of age. Infants engage with their environment through their senses—seeing, touching, hearing—and through actions such as reaching, grasping, and manipulating objects.

During this phase, infants develop essential cognitive skills, such as object permanence, which is the understanding that objects continue to exist even when they are not visible. This foundational learning through interaction with the environment is crucial, as it lays the groundwork for more complex cognitive processes in later stages of development.

The other phases mentioned—concrete operational, formal operational, and pre-operational—occur later in childhood and involve different types of reasoning and understanding. The concrete operational phase, for instance, begins around age 7 and is characterized by the development of logical thinking about concrete objects. The formal operational phase, starting around age 12, involves abstract reasoning and hypothetical thinking, while the pre-operational phase is from approximately ages 2 to 7, during which children start to engage in symbolic play but lack the ability to perform operations mentally. Thus, the sensorimotor phase