secondary circular reaction
in Piagetian theory, a repetitive action emerging around 4 to 5 months of age that signifies the infant’s aim of making things happen. This forward step occurs during the sensorimotor stage. The infant repeats actions, such as rattling the crib, that have yielded results in the past but is not able to coordinate them so as to meet the requirements of a new situation. Usually near the end of the child’s 1st year, that coordination ability emerges: In what is called coordination of secondary circular reactions (or of secondary schemes), the child becomes increasingly adept at the purposeful combination of secondary circular reactions to achieve a desired aim, such as picking up a pillow to get a toy placed underneath, and is able to choose and coordinate previously developed schemes that are logically related to the requirements of new situations. See primary circular reaction; tertiary circular
reaction.