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During the fifth substage, infants begin to experiment with new behaviors to see the results. Piaget described infants as “little scientists” during this period because they move from intentional behavior to systematic exploration. In what Piaget referred to as tertiary circular reactions, infants now engage in mini-experiments: active, purposeful, trial-and-error exploration to search for new discoveries. They vary their actions to see how the changes affect the outcomes. For example, many infants begin to experiment with gravity by dropping objects to the floor while sitting in a high chair. First an infant throws a ball and watches it bounce. Next a piece of paper floats slowly down. Then Mommy’s keys clatter to the floor. And so on. This purposeful exploration is how infants search for new discoveries and learn about the world. When presented with a problem, babies in the tertiary circular reactions substage engage in trial-and-error analyses, trying out behaviors until they find the best one to attain their goal. Figure 5.2 illustrates primary, secondary, and tertiary reactions.

During the fifth substage (12 to 18 months), infants begin to experiment with new behaviors to see the results.

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Figure 5.2 Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary Circular Reactions

Source: Adapted from Papalia et al. (2001).

Through play, infants quickly learn about the physical properties of objects.

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