Reaching in the dark to an object's remembered position: Evidence for object permanence in 5‐month‐old infants

Five‐month‐old infants were restrained from reaching for an object that was presented to the side within reaching distance. The room lights were switched off, the object was removed and the infant's hands were released. Significantly more reaches were directed towards the object's previously seen location than to a corresponding control location where no object had been presented. This finding supports the claim of Bower & Wishart that young infants show a form of object permanence, and challenges the Piagetian view that young infants are unable to represent objects that are no longer perceptually available.