The Genesis and Meaning of Object Permanence: Four Approaches.

It was proposed that the meaning of object permanence is insufficiently understood. Considering the importance conceded this concept, further work is needed. The present research studied this problem by using tasks (Bower's tracking tasks, and Piaget's tracking and cloth hiding tasks covering Stages 2-6) usually thought to be related to object permanence, and by examining the beginnings of object permanence (the period prior to Stage 4). Four questions about the meaning and origin of object permancence were asked: (1) do results replicate Bower and support his theory of the meaning of object permanence, (2) do measurement tests of Piaget's tasks support his observations, (3) is there an object permanence developmental dimension such as expected from Piagetian theory, and (4) does use of intersensory auditory/visual information support Piagetian theory. The section on developmental dimensions also considered, for the first time, the feasibility (in any domain) of identifying developmental dimensions. Infants were longitudinally studied at 4 and 8 months. Four conditions varied in the amount (presence/absence) and kind (visual/auditory) of available information about the object. Most results didn't replicate Bower. Several analyses showed the stability of Piaget's tasks. Techniques related to multidimensional scaling showed a multidimensional domain and no object permanence developmental dimension. Instead, there was a developmental dimension involving the coodination among initially orthogonal categorizations, each using a single aspect of the tasks. Conditions differed depending on level of performance and age; several results contradicted Piaget's object permanence theory. Some home events were related to lab performance. Piaget's broad perspective on cognitive development was supported, but not some of his specific object permanence predictions. His object permanence observations remain particularly important because of their stability. Both condition and dimension data showed that coordination, complex relationships between perception and cognition, and reorganization of perceptual/cognitive information were aspects of object permanence development. Further exploration was indicated concerning the role of intersensory integration and of categorization in the development of object permanence, especially at later ages.PhDDevelopmental psychologyUniversity of Michiganhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/159097/1/8225059.pd