Chapter 15. Piaget’s Concept of Object Permanence

Synopsis

Human Development Video Activity

true

You must read each slide, and complete any questions on the slide, in sequence.

Stockbyte/Getty Images

PIAGET'S CONCEPT OF OBJECT PERMANENCE

Estimated Completion Time:

Approximately 5 minutes.

Synopsis:

Piaget’s belief that infants do not begin to evidence object permanence until the age of 8 months was based on tests that required infants to physically search for hidden objects. Many experiments have confirmed Piaget’s original findings: Infants who are younger than 8 months old fail to search for the object.
The following segments illustrate this fact.

Video #1

Piaget’s belief that infants do not begin to evidence object permanence until the age of 8 months was based on tests that required infants to physically search for hidden objects. Typically, Piaget presented infants with a desirable object and then, while they watched, hid the object under a cloth that was within their reach. According to Piaget, infants who retrieved the hidden object must have realized that the object still existed even though they could no longer see it, hence, they had object permanence. Many experiments have confirmed Piaget’s original findings: infants who are younger than 8 months old fail to search for the object.

Video #2

Recent object-permanence research that eliminates the need for infants to physically search for the hidden object suggests that, contrary to Piaget’s belief, infants younger than 8 months old are able to mentally represent objects that have disappeared from view. Typical of this later research is the “reaching-in-the-dark” procedure. An infant is presented with an interesting object that makes a noise. Then the room is totally darkened, and the noise-making object is presented again, but this time, the infant cannot see it. In these conditions, most infants reach for the object, indicating that they expect the object to still be there.

The following clips, from the laboratory of Rachel Keen (Clifton), were shot with an infrared camera during the darkened-room segments. Although you will be able to see these segments quite clearly, the room was, in fact, pitch dark at the time.
The infant being tested is 6 months old.

Essay Question

Stockbyte/Getty Images

Question 15.1

1tw5mDTXZaYvQS85+Wcb+Ap/8AhVZXR6PBwP0M1yvb3+rCDW+bhAiatfFOV0FJrDGSEYAOgq6jmqvuaZ735tRn35sFyUh/OetifYSjhivF2kqBslFVwtFyViN/fy/rw+9r99hs9UsiJmzL+ThY2lalGKV9CY5VoobE2lM/voZ6OE2d3kVgfHbpZoJQHA/TXPC+W88ahhGQmf5jxceqlghVBqha+AxBGYDoqnDiYvZArQr96Hn3wYqUpNPuepswQCe4VzMKZrtHHpFCkWRoqpvtvjP14jV1VlT4VVVhA94QCrF1L6fAkK+InTqIFEcSZ3TISW38PTpPybpnEhVlv+ND67k2araY39V1Luq7y4xIRdKbcvTl6b4KJWFQufnpSTBB4J1kFbtPo=

In the darkened room episodes, infants often adapt their reaching to accord with some salient feature of the object. When they hear the sound of a familiar large object, for example, they typically reach out with both hands; correspondingly, when they hear the sound of a familiar small object, they are likely to reach out with just one hand.

Activity Completed!
Congratulations, you have completed this activity!
You have received a provisional score for your essay answers, which have been submitted to your instructor.