Sensorimotor stage: Object permanence
In the Sensorimotor stage, from
birth to nearly age 2, babies take in the world through their senses and
actions – through looking, hearing, touching, mouthing, and grasping. As their
hands and limbs begin to move, they learn to make things happen (Myers, 2014). During this stage, infants tend to learn by trial and error, usually repeating
this process until they figure something specific out (e.g., learning to pull themselves
up from the ground to a table or couch or even from their bellies to their
hands). During this "trial and error" time, they may fall many times before truly
mastering a skill and then move onto something more challenging.
“Out of mind, out of sight” seems to be the main way of living during this stage – as a child grows from ages 0-2-years-old, their situational awareness heightens and continually grows. During the Sensorimotor stage, infants lack object permanence: the awareness that things continue to exist even when not perceived (Myers, 2014).
A simple test of what might result when a lack of object permanence is present would be easily conducted with a child under age 2 by covering your entire face or self with a blanket while sitting face-to-face with the child and then uncovering your face with the blanket and exclaiming, "Peek-a-boo! I see you!". The child will most likely experience initial confusion, unsure of where you or your face went, and then a feeling of surprise when you seemingly magically reappear! The interest of the child (even at 2 months) is still present even if the child cannot physically look for you with their hands or even join you under the blanket.
As mentioned in the description for "Preoperational stage: Lack of Conservation" - Jean Piaget, a Swiss developmental psychologist, performed a test on an infant by showing the child a toy and then hiding the very same toy with a hat. At 6 months the infant showed no signs of being aware that the toy still existed after the toy was hidden from plain sight. At 8 months that same child started showing signs that it could remember things that had moments before been hidden from their visual field. After 2 more months had passed, Piaget re-tested the young child, and the child started looking for the very thing that had been hidden from him, even when momentarily restrained.
Through this test, Piaget's theorized that infants learned object permanence by tactile functions (mouthing, licking, touching, grasping, and holding objects). He concluded that infants completely lacked object permanence until about 8 months, and only then when it gradually became more apparent as the months raced by that things do not just disappear out of thin air and then reappear suddenly.
Through recent research, it has become clearer that infants do not suddenly (at around 8 months) develop the ability or show signs of awareness that an object has been hidden from them. Modern researchers believe that Piaget and his followers underestimated children's competence (Myers, 2014). Infants are surprisingly more aware of objects being hidden even when they are unable to physically reach out for them. When these perceived "phenomena" occur, researchers are able to see that the infant's mind gears are turning by how long they stare after an object is visually offered and then hidden. These new research findings are not only limited to singular objects being hidden, but studies have shown that infants as young as 2-3 months are able to anticipate rhythm (drumbeats), larger numbers than 1, or even ratios!
“Out of mind, out of sight” seems to be the main way of living during this stage – as a child grows from ages 0-2-years-old, their situational awareness heightens and continually grows. During the Sensorimotor stage, infants lack object permanence: the awareness that things continue to exist even when not perceived (Myers, 2014).
A simple test of what might result when a lack of object permanence is present would be easily conducted with a child under age 2 by covering your entire face or self with a blanket while sitting face-to-face with the child and then uncovering your face with the blanket and exclaiming, "Peek-a-boo! I see you!". The child will most likely experience initial confusion, unsure of where you or your face went, and then a feeling of surprise when you seemingly magically reappear! The interest of the child (even at 2 months) is still present even if the child cannot physically look for you with their hands or even join you under the blanket.
As mentioned in the description for "Preoperational stage: Lack of Conservation" - Jean Piaget, a Swiss developmental psychologist, performed a test on an infant by showing the child a toy and then hiding the very same toy with a hat. At 6 months the infant showed no signs of being aware that the toy still existed after the toy was hidden from plain sight. At 8 months that same child started showing signs that it could remember things that had moments before been hidden from their visual field. After 2 more months had passed, Piaget re-tested the young child, and the child started looking for the very thing that had been hidden from him, even when momentarily restrained.
Through this test, Piaget's theorized that infants learned object permanence by tactile functions (mouthing, licking, touching, grasping, and holding objects). He concluded that infants completely lacked object permanence until about 8 months, and only then when it gradually became more apparent as the months raced by that things do not just disappear out of thin air and then reappear suddenly.
Through recent research, it has become clearer that infants do not suddenly (at around 8 months) develop the ability or show signs of awareness that an object has been hidden from them. Modern researchers believe that Piaget and his followers underestimated children's competence (Myers, 2014). Infants are surprisingly more aware of objects being hidden even when they are unable to physically reach out for them. When these perceived "phenomena" occur, researchers are able to see that the infant's mind gears are turning by how long they stare after an object is visually offered and then hidden. These new research findings are not only limited to singular objects being hidden, but studies have shown that infants as young as 2-3 months are able to anticipate rhythm (drumbeats), larger numbers than 1, or even ratios!
One of the many impacts that object permanence can have on a parent is the benefit that might be reaped from a simple game of peek-a-boo. These kinds of games can have seemingly stress-relieving properties for a mother and her child. "Now you see me, now you don't, now you see me!" provides an almost ebb and flow effect of comfort, stress, and then a returned comfort for the child. A game of peek-a-boo also provides tons of laughter for both parent and child which helps the pair bond and can work to establish a healthy attachment.
References
Myers, D. G. (2014). Psychology (10 ed.). New York, NY: Worth Publishers.
References
Myers, D. G. (2014). Psychology (10 ed.). New York, NY: Worth Publishers.