Object Permanence

Object permanence: the realization that objects (including people) still exist when they can no longer be seen, touched or heard (Berger 2011). Object permanence is such an interesting topic to dive deep in and really study and pull apart. It’s interesting to see how infants can grow and change especially when it comes to games such as hide and seek. As infants grow, they can develop their interest from zero to full when it comes to removing an object and searching for the object. When infants are around 8 months old they can final realize that the object they did see is now gone. I found it interesting that researchers found out that infants can start to piece together object permanence as young as 4 ½ months (Berger 2011). I always loved seeing my cousins playing peek a boo as infants and toddlers. Their reactions are priceless, especially when you would cover your head with a blanket and wait for them to pull it off. I also think it’s interesting that if you take something from a toddler and hold it behind your back, they start to problem solve. When the toddlers start to problem solve, they may chase your hands around searching for that object trying to pull your hands apart. While infants may not understand what you’re doing at such a young age, they are starting to think about your moves. You can learn so much from infants and their personality is so interesting to observe no matter what age they are.