Meaning & use
object permanence
Last updated
Meaning
noununcountabletechnical
The understanding that things still exist even when they cannot be seen, heard or touched, which babies gradually develop in their first year or two.
Grammar: A mass noun: object permanence develops, not an object permanence.
Patterns
- develop object permanence
- object permanence in infants
A baby who searches for a hidden toy is showing object permanence.
Peekaboo is fun for young infants because they have not yet fully developed object permanence.
The psychologist tested object permanence by covering a ball with a cloth.
Common combinations
- develop object permanence
- Most children develop object permanence before their first birthday.
- understand object permanence
- A toddler who understands object permanence will look for a hidden toy.
- lack object permanence
- Very young babies seem to lack object permanence.
- test object permanence
- Researchers test object permanence with hide-and-seek games.
- object permanence in infants
- Studies of object permanence in infants have changed over time.
Synonyms and how they differ
- object constancy
- Object constancy is a related but different idea about emotional stability of attachment, so it is not a plain synonym.
- object recognition
- Object recognition is about identifying what something is, while object permanence is about knowing it continues to exist unseen.
Word family
- permanent adjective
- lasting without change
- permanence noun
- the state of lasting
- object noun
- a thing that can be seen or touched
- permanently adverb
- in a lasting way
Commonly confused: object permanence or person permanence?
object permanence vs person permanence
Person permanence is the similar idea applied to people, such as knowing a parent still exists when out of sight.
Practice
A baby who crawls to look under a blanket for a hidden toy is showing ___.
Choose one answer.
Searching for something hidden shows the baby knows it still exists, which is object permanence. Recognition is about identifying the toy, not remembering it exists.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “object permanence”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.