Perception of object persistence: the origins of object permanence in infancy
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Abstract A dominant account of object knowledge in infancy is based on the assumption that infants possess innate core knowledge of objects through which they reason about events and look longer at those that violate their expectations on the basis of this knowledge. In this article, we propose a perceptual model in which younger infants’ perception of object persistence is subject to greater perceptual constraints compared with infants a few months older, and in which young infants require a combination of cues to perceive object persistence across occlusion. Young infants perceive object persistence under limited conditions and over the early months, perception of persistence becomes more robust. The same analysis may be applied to cases in which stationary objects are occluded, including tasks assessing infants’ numerical competence. We argue that these perceptual developments within the first 6 months likely underpin the later development of cognitive principles, including object permanence.
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As young babies, we already know that objects tend to persist over time.
“As young babies, we already know (Bremner et al., 2015) that objects tend to persist over time.”
From Toward an integration of deep learning and neuroscience (2016) · cites this paper as Bremner et al., 2015
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Toward an integration of deep learning and neuroscience
Marblestone, A. H., Wayne, G., & Kording, K. P. (2016) · Frontiers in Computational Neuroscience · doi:10.3389/fncom.2016.00094 · Cited by 119 · see citing works
- Authors
- Bremner, J. G., Slater, A. M., & Johnson, S. P.
- Affiliations
- Lancaster University (GB)
- University of Exeter (GB)
- University of California, Los Angeles (US)
- Corresponding author
- Bremner, J Gavin
- Venue
- Child Development Perspectives
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press (OUP)
- Published
- 2015-02-18
- Volume
- 9
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 7-13
- ISSN
- 1750-8592 (ISSN-L)
- 1750-8606
- OpenAlex
- W2082685143
- Cited by
- 55
- References
- 47
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 7 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 2 · 2021: 3 · 2020: 7 · 2019: 4 · 2018: 8 · 2017: 5 · 2016: 6 · 2015: 1
- FWCI
- 9.39
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- eprints.lancs.ac.uk
- Locations
- Child Development Perspectives (publishedVersion)
- Lancaster EPrints (Lancaster University) (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- U.K. Economic and Social Research Council (R000239979, RES-000-23-1341, RES-062-23-1757)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Child and Animal Learning Development
- Physical Sciences › Mathematics › Statistics and Probability › Cognitive and developmental aspects of mathematical skills
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Automotive Engineering › Spatial Cognition and Navigation
- Keywords
- object persistence, object permanence, infant perception, occlusion, perceptual development, core knowledge, numerical competence, visual attention, perceptual constraints
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