Object Permanence

CORE DEFINITION

Object permanence is the understanding that objects continue to exist even when they cannot be perceived through the senses. This is a fundamental concept in developmental psychology, a subfield of psychology that studies the social and psychological development of infants and children. Currently, there is no consensus in the scientific community regarding the concept of object permanence in human development. Jean Piaget was the first Swiss psychologist to study object permanence in infancy. He considered object permanence to be one of the most important developments in infancy, because without this concept, objects cannot exist independently and permanently. In Piaget's theory of cognitive development, it is mentioned that infants develop this concept after the age of two, that is, in the late stage of the sensorimotor period. Piaget believed that infants' perception and understanding of the world depend on their motor development, which is crucial for infants to observe the appearance of objects. According to this view, through touching and playing, infants gradually develop the concept of object permanence.