173a REACHING IN THE DARK: OBJEcr PERMANENCE IN FIVE-MONTH-0LD INFANTS. Bruce Hood & Peter Willatts Five-month-old infants were presented with an object at one side and within reaching distance, but were restrained from reaching. The room lights were switched off, the object removed, and the infants' hands released. Recordings of activity in the dark by means of an infra-red TV system revealed that infants reached significantly more often to the location where the object had been presented than to a control location where no object had been shown. This may have occurred because infants either continued to fixate in the direction where the object had been seen and reached in that direction, or because they had attempted to reach while restrained, and merely carried out the action once their hands were released. However, on the majority of trials infants fixated away from the object's previously seen location before they produced a reach to any location. Further, the first reach was directed randomly between the object's previously seen location and the control location. Thus infants' initial behavior in the dark did not suggest the use of simple sensory-motor strategies to control their reaching. This result shows that infants remembered the position of the object that had disappeared from view, and supports Bower & Wishart's claim that infants possess an understanding of object permanence several weeks before they are capable of manual search.

Reaching in the dark: Object permanence in five-month-old infants

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173a

REACHING IN THE DARK: OBJEcr PERMANENCE INFIVE-MONTH-0LD INFANTS.

Bruce Hood & Peter Willatts

Five-month-old infants were presented with an objectat one side and within reaching distance, but wererestrained from reaching. The room lights wereswitched off, the object removed, and the infants'hands released. Recordings of activity in the darkby means of an infra-red TV system revealed thatinfants reached significantly more often to thelocation where the object had been presented than toa control location where no object had been shown.This may have occurred because infants eithercontinued to fixate in the direction where the objecthad been seen and reached in that direction, orbecause they had attempted to reach while restrained,and merely carried out the action once their handswere released. However, on the majority of trialsinfants fixated away from the object's previouslyseen location before they produced a reach to anylocation. Further, the first reach was directedrandomly between the object's previously seenlocation and the control location. Thus infants'initial behavior in the dark did not suggest theuse of simple sensory-motor strategies to controltheir reaching. This result shows that infantsremembered the position of the object that haddisappeared from view, and supports Bower &Wishart's claim that infants possess anunderstanding of object permanence several weeksbefore they are capable of manual search.