A study of object concept development in institutionalized and home-reared infants

Institution- and home-reared infants were tested in five areas: language development, object concept development, play, social responsiveness, and social maturity. The sample consisted of 104 infants ranging in age from six months to two years, thus broadly encompassing object concept stages 3 to 6 described by Piaget. The relationship of each of the five functions to IQ and background was examined. This paper describes the specific nature of the object concept function as reflected by the investigation. It was found statistically that object concept scores, as measured by Piagetian tests, were relatively unaffected by the background variable but were significantly related to IQ. The other measures were sensitive to both IQ and background variables. The fact that the object concept score was relatively independent of the background variable suggested that it represents the most stable developing function and provides the most accurate reflection of the cognitive potential of the infant.