Arizona Educator Proficiency Assessments (AEPA) Practice Exam

During the sensorimotor stage, particularly between the ages of 12 to 18 months, children are heavily engaged in trial and error learning. This involves exploring their environment and discovering the consequences of their actions through direct experience.

At this stage, infants begin to understand that they can interact with their surroundings and learn from their attempts and failures, which leads to a greater understanding of cause and effect. For example, a child may experiment with how to stack blocks or manipulate a toy to see what happens, effectively learning by trial and error. This hands-on exploration is integral for developing problem-solving skills.

While imitative play, language acquisition, and logical deduction are also important aspects of child development, they become more pronounced in later stages. Imitative play typically increases as children observe and mimic the actions of others, often developing further in the following years. Language acquisition begins to emerge around this age but evolves significantly beyond the sensorimotor stage. Logical deduction requires a level of abstract thinking that children typically attain during the concrete operational stage, which follows the sensorimotor stage. Therefore, trial and error learning stands out as the key ability cultivated during this developmental period.