By the age of 2, the child should have completed the first stage, the sensorimotor period. The child should have mastered the concept of object permanence (i.e., an object doesn’t cease to exist just because it cannot be seen). In addition, the child should exhibit some form of reasoning. Movements and thoughts are no longer carried out by the entire body. As a result, thinking and movements should become more complex.
Piaget’s second stage, the stage of preoperational thought, spans the ages of 2 to 7 years. During this early stage, the toddler is egocentric and still unaware of others’ viewpoints. The thought process is illogical and the toddler displays magical thinking.