Kaylee Aldrich

PSY211-WN101
March 25, 2015
Ms. Donegan
It is Still There Even If You Cannot See It
For young children games like peekaboo and hide and seek are quite enjoyable. During
these games children will laugh, smile, and giggle simply because they do not understand object
permanence. Even though something is out of sight it is not necessarily out of mind. This is a
concept children at a very young age do you not understand. Originally, Jean Piaget looked into
development psychology. He studied children, including his own, and how they thought in
different situations (Hock, 2013, 134). Piaget concluded that it is not the person's experience that
necessarily teaches them what they know and don't, but contrarily it is a physical development
that allows children to understand what is going on in their world. In The 40 Studies that Change
Psychology Roger R. Hock summarizes Piaget findings and his eventual conclusion of the theory
of cognitive development and its stages (2013, 134).
To perform this study Piaget used a method of exercises and observation. He also used an
interview method. Children cannot exactly talk so this interview was really just an observation
of the children and their reactions (Hock, 2013, 135). This study was a descriptive research of
children in their natural environment. Piaget did not have a control group and an experimental
group he was not just watching one child as in the case study is not using past research and he's
not doing a correlational study he is simply observing children and their reactions. Therefore, his
study was descriptive research, specifically, naturalistic observation (White, 2014, 52-53).

He divided his findings into six stages. Stage one involves infants who were just born
until one month old. There is no evidence of object permeance during this first stage. Their life is
simply dependent upon natural reflexes. For example, the rooting reflex allows children to turn
their head when they are hungry so that they may get food (White, 2014, 367).
In the second stage Piaget thought that children started to show signs of predevelopment
to object permanence. Children would repeatedly perform actions to better understand their
environment. Piaget called this primary circular reactions (Hock, 2013, 137). Additionally during
this stage children can follow objects with their eyes. Because they do not understand object
permeance, it appears as if some objects "vanish", but children use, in Piaget's terms, passive
expectation and look at the location where the object disappear longer if the object has been
recently reappearing (Hock, 2013, 137).
During stage three children use secondary circular reactions where they start to purposely
manipulate objects they encounter in their environment. Children now will go in search for
objects after they "disappear." Piaget clarifies that this stage does not indicate that children have
learned object permeance because a half seen object is not perceived by the child to be full but is
in the process of "disappearing" (Hock, 2013, 138).
In stage four, children will actively search for the objects that are no longer visible.
However children do not understand visible displacements. For example if an adult hides an
object on the 11 month old in place A and then switch the object to place B, the child will still
look for the objects in place A (Hock, 2013, 139).
Once children are between the ages of one and one and a half most of them enter stage
five. In this stage children begin to understand visual displacements and will look for objects in

the last place they were hidden. But what children begin to understand according to Piaget is
invisible displacements. For example when an adult hides an object, young children fail to
understand that the object has simply been moved and did not disappear (Hock, 2013, 139).
Once children reach the age of 18 to 24 months they generally are grouped into stage six.
During this stage children fully understand invisible displacements and are now beginning to use
true thought. After completing the six stages of understanding object permeance, and then we'll
move further into cognitive development and enter Piaget's preoperational period (Hock, 2013,
140).
Piaget concluded that every child goes through all of these stages and that no stage is ever
skipped and that all stages must be completed before moving onto the next. However the stages
are reached at different levels by each child during different times of their lives not every person
if identical (Hock, 2013, 141).
To apply this further to children, Scher, Amir and Tirosh believe that children with a more
advanced understanding of the object permeance have significantly fewer sleep difficulties than
those without an advanced level of object permanence (Hock, 2013, 142). About a year ago, I
had the opportunity to do an experiment with some younger children. Piaget's theory of cognitive
development may explain why children do not understand that when a person pours water from
two equal glasses into one that is taller skinnier the amount of water stays the same and is just
dispersed differently throughout the container. Scher, Amir, and Tiroshs belief that children who
do not fully understand object permeance, could be explained by the dreams, nightmares, and
difficulty falling asleep that these same young children experience.

In an article from the New York Times, Benjamin W. Voorhees, an assistant professor of
medicine and pediatrics at the University of Chicago, stresses the importance of child safety
during the toddler months (Van Voorhees, 2006). He says, "Toddler safety is very important
during this time since more accidents occurred during toddler years than any other state of
childhood." He goes on to suggest that parent should childproof their home by installing window
guards, cabinet locks, and electric outlet covers. Additionally, he states that had there should be
placed in the safety restraint or car seats when riding in the car and that is very important to
never leave a toddler unattended even if parents think it is just for a short period of time (Van
Voorhees, 2006). He further indicates that parent should set strict boundaries for children as far
as not playing in the streets and keeping them away from doors and gates. He clarifies, "it is
important for children to learn from experience and consistent boundaries to find acceptable and
unacceptable behaviors are also important during this age" (Van Voorhees, 2006).
Understanding this information and using these tips will be helpful for any parent who
decides to have children. Piaget did not originally know that thinking changes as we grow. It is
not just our experiences that help us learn, the brain changes as we develop the ability to think
(Hock, 2013, 142). To make his theory of cognitive development more understandable he split it
into six groups. His theory explains the transitions children go through as they start to think
critically about the world. Development during the first two years of peoples lives is very
important because it helps everyone to eventually become great problem-solvers and to think
internally. I can use my knowledge of this experiment to help children develop object
permeance. I will be patient when teaching them because every child will need a different about
of time to get through each stage. The next time I play peek-a-boo, I will know what is really

going on in the childs mind. When they come searching for the object, I will let them find it,
because they are developing and that growth will make them great thinkers later in life.

Works Cited
Ciccarelli, S. K., & White, J. N. (2012). Psychology. Boston, MA: Pearson Prentice Hall.
Hock, R. R. (2013). Forty studies that changed psychology: Explorations into the history of
psychological research. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson.
Van Voorhees, B. W. (2006, May 15). Toddler Development. Retrieved April 1, 2015, from The
New York Times website: http://www.nytimes.com/health/guides/specialtopic/toddlerdevelopment/overview.html#top