Bailey is an infant boy who is sitting in his car seat. He is waving his hands around and his thumb accidentally touches his cheek. He turns his head toward his thumb and he puts his thumb into his mouth. He begins to suck on it and finds that he likes it. He quickly learns to put his thumb into his mouth and suck on it whenever he wants to. What sensorimotor substage does this illustrate?

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

This illustrates Substage 2: Primary Circular Reactions, which is characterized by repetitive actions that the infant finds pleasurable and that occur by chance. The infant does not yet have intentional control over their movements, but they are learning about cause and effect through their actions. In this case, Bailey discovered that sucking on his thumb was pleasurable and began to repeat the action whenever he wanted to feel the same sensation.

Bailey Is an Infant Boy Who Is Sitting in His