Which of Piaget's stages focuses on observable behavior in young children?

The Sensorimotor Stage is the correct answer because it represents the first stage of Jean Piaget's theory of cognitive development, occurring from birth to approximately two years of age. During this stage, young children explore the world primarily through their senses and motor activities; they engage in observable behaviors as they interact with their environment. This includes actions such as grasping, sucking, and crawling, which are critical for developing their understanding of the world around them.

In this stage, children learn to distinguish themselves from their surroundings and begin to understand that their actions can yield results in the environment, establishing the foundation for future cognitive development. Observable behaviors are easily assessed during this period, as children respond directly to stimuli and their physical interactions with objects.

The other stages, while important in terms of cognitive development, focus more on internal reasoning and abstract thinking rather than primarily on observable behavior. The Preoperational Stage introduces symbolic thinking and language, the Concrete Operational Stage focuses on logical reasoning about concrete events, and the Formal Operational Stage involves abstract reasoning and hypothetical thinking, all of which move beyond the overt actions characterized in the Sensorimotor Stage.