... language was the outcome of a generalised cognitive ability. Piaget's theory of genetic epistemology asserts that cognitive development is mainly a consequence of maturation. At the centre of Piaget's theory is his model of what he believed to be four stages in cognitive development, which all children pass through invariantly. Sensorimotor (0-2 years) is the name given to the first of these four stages; during which the child learns to master its movements and understand physical impact on its immediate surroundings. It is also marks the start of language and symbolic thought. Piaget believed that during the first few months a child's mental life consists of nothing more than a "succession of transient, disconnected sensory impressions and motor reactions. There is no differentiation between 'me' and 'not me'." (Gleitman) Piaget's experimentations, involving hiding an object from a child, proved also that lack of object permanence was also evident at this ...

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