An infant can repeat behaviors that they have seen, and interact differently with numerous objects. Secondary circular reactions are a continuation of the primary circular reactions but differ in that there is more retention in the events that occur and that the infant becomes more aware of events that may occur daily. The infant can now relate two activities such as touching and vision into one schema. "Grasping and holding a finger and repeatedly banging an object for noise production are typical infant activities in this period" (Maier, 1988, pg. 34). Secondary schemata usually are typical after the first birthday, where children start to discover and experiment with objects around them. "For example, the child begins to discover that hiding an object occurs prior to finding it. The moment children are aware of the continued existence of an object once it is beyond their immediate perception, they are capable of reasoning to the degree that the object can be returned to their immediate sensory experience again" (Maier, 1988, pg. 36). Tertiary circular reactions involve active experimentation where a child wants to touch everything and see what it does if moved or touched in a certain way. In the final event that occurs during this stage, inventions of new means through mental combinations, a child begins to reflect about their experiences. They realize that each object that they encounter has its own characteristics, and assign certain characteristics to a certain object for easy recognition. An example of this is that if a child puts a big red ball into the car, and later can say that the ball is in the car. But if their parent asks them about the big ball, they will tell them that there is no big ball, just a red ball (Maier, 1988, pg. 40). .
The Preoperational stage, the second stage, takes place from two years of age to about seven years of age. Children in this stage use symbols from their own experience to represent objects.
