Object permanence in child and chimpanzee

Abstract

In a repeated-measures design, two infant chimpanzees and three human infants were tested in like manner using the Uzgiris and Hunt (1975) stepwise assessment instrument for the development of object permanence in human infants. Comparisons between chimpanzee and human subjects showed similarities in the number of steps achieved, in the order and rate of achieving the steps, and in the detailed characteristics of searching behavior. These results suggest that the course of development of the concept of object permanence, as described by Piaget, is a very general one. © 1980 Psychonomic Society, Inc.