Object Permanence and Piagets Theory of Development

Object Permanence and Piagets Theory of Development Theories Developmental Psychology Print Object Permanence and Piagets Theory of Development By Kendra Cherry facebook twitter Kendra Cherry, MS, is an author, educational consultant, and speaker focused on helping students learn about psychology. Learn about our editorial policy Kendra Cherry Reviewed by Reviewed by Amy Morin, LCSW on June 20, 2019 facebook twitter instagram Amy Morin, LCSW, is a psychotherapist, author of the bestselling book 13 Things Mentally Strong People Dont Do, and a highly sought-after speaker. Learn about our Wellness Board Amy Morin, LCSW Updated on October 23, 2019 Stages of Cognitive Development Piaget's Theory Sensorimotor Stage Preoperational Stage Concrete Operational Stage Formal Operational Stage Support and Criticism Bambu Productions / The Image Bank / Getty Images The term object permanence is used to describe a childs ability to know that objects continue to exist even though they can no longer be seen or heard. If you have ever played a game of peek-a-boo with a very young child, then you probably understand how this works. When an object is hidden from sight, infants under a certain age often become upset that the item has vanished. This is because they are too young to understand that the object continues to exist even though it cannot be seen. Object Permanence and Cognitive Development The concept of object permanence plays a significant role in the theory of cognitive development created by psychologist Jean Piaget. In the sensorimotor stage of development, a period that lasts from birth to about age two, Piaget suggested that children understand the world through their motor abilities such as touch, vision, taste, and movement.?? During early infancy, babies are extremely egocentric. They have no concept that the world exists separate from their point of view and experience. To understand that objects continue to exist even when they are unseen, infants must first develop a mental representation of the object. Piaget referred to these mental images as schemas. A schema is a category of knowledge about something in the world. For example, an infant might have a schema for food, which during early infancy will be either a bottle or breast. As the child grows older and has more experiences, his or her schemas will multiply and become much more complex. Through the processes of assimilation and accommodation, children develop new mental categories, expand their existing categories, and even completely change their current schemas.?? How Object Permanence Develops Piaget suggested that there were six substages that occur during the sensorimotor stage of development, including: Birth to 1 Month: ReflexesDuring the earliest part of the sensorimotor stage, reflexes are the primary way that infants understand and explore the world. Reflexive responses such as rooting, sucking, and startling are how the infant interacts with his or her environment.1 to 4 Months: Development of New SchemasNext, primary circular reactions lead to the formations of new schemas. A baby might accidentally suck on his thumb and realize that its enjoyable. He will then repeat the action because he finds it pleasurable.4 to 8 Months: Intentional ActionsAround the age of 4 to 8 months, infants begin paying much more attention to the world around them. They will even perform actions to create a response. Piaget referred to these as secondary circular reactions.8 to 12 Months: Greater ExplorationBetween 8 and 12 months, intentional actions become much more evident. Babies will shake toys to produce sounds and their responses to the environment become more cohesive and coordinated.12 to 18 Months: Trial-and-ErrorTertiary circular reactions appear during the fifth stage. These involve trial-and-error and infants might start performing actions to gain attention from others.18 to 24 Months: Object Permanence EmergesPiaget believed that representational thought begins to emerge between 18 and 24 months. At this point, children become able to form mental representations of objects. Because they can symbolically imagine things that cannot be seen, they are now able to understand object permanence.?? How Piaget Measured Object Permanence To determine if object permanence was present, Piaget would show a toy to an infant before hiding it or taking it away. In one version of his experiment, Piaget would hide a toy under a blanket and then observe to see if the infant would search for the object. Some of the infants would appear confused or upset by the loss while other infants would instead look for the object. Piaget believed that the children who were upset that the toy was gone lacked the understanding of object permanence, while those who searched for the toy had reached this developmental milestone. In Piaget’s experiments, this tended to occur around the age of 8 to 9 months.?? Recent Findings Suggest Object Permanence Occurs Earlier While Piaget’s theory was enormously influential and remains quite popular today, it has also been the subject of criticism. One of the major criticisms of Piaget’s work is that he often underestimated children’s abilities. Research on object permanence has also called into question some of Piagets conclusions. Researchers have been able to demonstrate that with cues,  children as young as four months can understand that objects continue to exist even though they are unseen or unheard.?? Other researchers have suggested alternative explanations for why infants do not look for hidden toys. Very young children simply may not have the physical coordination necessary to search for the item. In other cases, babies might not have an interest in finding the hidden object.??