What is the focus of the sensorimotor stage in Piaget's theory?

The sensorimotor stage is a critical phase in Piaget's theory of cognitive development, spanning from birth to approximately 2 years of age. During this stage, infants learn about their world primarily through their senses and motor activities. They engage in exploration by touching, seeing, hearing, and manipulating objects, which allows them to gain an understanding of their immediate environment.

Infants in this stage demonstrate a keen interest in how their actions affect the world around them. For instance, by shaking a rattle, they learn about sound and cause-and-effect relationships. This hands-on, experiential approach is foundational for later cognitive development, as it paves the way for symbol-based thought processes.

The other options, while related to different stages or aspects of cognitive development, do not directly align with the focus of the sensorimotor stage. Language acquisition comes into play more prominently in the preoperational stage; introspection and self-reflection are not typical behaviors of infants; and problem-solving and logical reasoning develop later, during the concrete operational stage. Thus, the emphasis in the sensorimotor stage is indeed on interactions through senses and actions.