Piagetian stage IV search errors with an object that is directly accessible both visually and manually

Area of Science:

• Developmental Psychology
• Cognitive Development in Infancy

Background:

• Infants often make the Piagetian stage IV error under transparent occlusion.
• Uncertainty exists whether this error stems from understanding visible objects or transparency's complexity.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate if nine-month-old infants commit stage IV errors with visible objects.
• To determine the factors influencing object permanence errors in early development.

Main Methods:

• Nine-month-old infants participated in modified Piagetian stage IV tasks.
• The object remained visible but uncovered at the second location in all trials.

Main Results:

• Stage IV errors occurred with visible objects.
• Errors were observed specifically when a covered location was present at the initial stage.

Conclusions:

• The stage IV error is not solely a hidden-object phenomenon.
• Infants' functional place knowledge and object identity understanding are crucial for explaining stage IV errors.