Object permanence
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Submitted by gmc081 on 12/18/2007 11:51 AM Flag This Paper
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Object permanence
Piaget has concluded that when infants reach nine months they are able to form successful means-end sequences involving separate objects (Baillargeon, 1987). Piaget found that these sequences involved infants applying one designated action to one object which, created conditions in which they could apply another object (1987). An example of this means–end sequence is an infant pulling a string or cushion to get an object that is placed on it (Willatts, 1999). If an infant watches an object moved to a new hiding place they will still look for the object in the initial hiding place during this stage (Harris, 1975). This result indicates that an infant has begun to master object permanence but does not have complete awareness because they look in the original hiding place A, and not location B where the object has been moved (Sophian, 1985). The nine month old infant recognizes the changes that occur during the A not B location tasks, however they still make perceptual errors (Harris, 1975). It has been predicted that infants have more persistent errors when objects disappear under a cloth rather than under a screen (1975). Part of Piaget’s theory is that the reason for infants’ confusion and struggle is that they are egocentric beings and they do not yet have the knowledge of independent objects as adults do (1975).
Bibliography
Baillargeon, R (1987).Object permanence in 3 1/2- and 4 l/2-month-o1d infants. Developmental Psychology. 23, 655-664.
Harris, P. L. (1975).Development of search and object permanence during infancy. Psychological Bulletin . Vol. 82, 332-344.