Out of Sight and Out of Mind? Infants demonstrate rapid cognitive advances throughout their first years. These cognitive skills encompass a child’s ability to think, learn, understand, and remember. Although not initially apparent, from birth, children immediately begin to absorb information and build a foundation for further development. Everyday interactions and experiences create new connections and foster a child’s willingness to explore and make sense of the world around them. The expression, “Out of sight, and out of mind” pertains especially to children under the age of two, in that when an object becomes out of sight or out of reach, it ceases to exist in their minds. The attainment of object permanence is a milestone in not only cognitive
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Through play, caregivers can help develop a child’s cognitive learning skills. Although there is no distinct age at which children develop object permanence, from his observations and experiments, Piaget (1957) claims it to be at about 9 months of age. Progression occurs gradually, and parents can aid and ensure this development through play. I have designed the Peek-A-Boo Box, an apparatus that takes a twist on the classic structure of a traditional imbucare. The Peek-A-Boo Box is a four by four feet cube shaped enclosure with six varying cut out shapes on the top, allowing for a child to match and drop the corresponding shaped object inside. Similar to an imbacure, when the object is dropped, it falls directly below, landing into its corresponding drawer that can be accessed from the outside, allowing for retrieval of the object. This activity fosters the concept of object permanence in that it teaches that an object out of sight still exists. The drawers are color coordinated with the color of the shapes and have different hinges that require different ways to be opened. This aspect of my invention can aid the later learning of distinguishing between color and shape, and the hinges introduce a way to practice problem-solving and fine motor skills. In comparison to a traditional imbacure, the most apparent difference is in the relative size. …show more content…
In the same way my invention foreshadows and aids other forms of development, cognitive development underlies all other facets of development in one way or another. Biological development is involved in the way that the attainment of object permanence encourages children to actively explore the world around them and become “little scientists” (Berger, 2010). This exploration encourages advancements in gross and fine motor skills. Physical development in turn, accounts for brain maturation, cell growth, development of dendrites, formations of synapses, and pruning which all (especially pruning) aid cognitive development. Regarding the significance of object permanence in emotional and social development, with this milestone, may come separation anxiety, which contributes to the evolving social bonds and attachments children form with others. With the progression from reactive pain and pleasure, to complex patterns of awareness in emotional development, the child is able to express fear through either separation anxiety or stranger wariness. Once children are able to recognize that a caregiver exists even when out of sight, touch, and/or heard, they may express signs of distress at separation. Signs of attachment are displayed through proximity seeking and contact maintaining
Through play, caregivers can help develop a child’s cognitive learning skills. Although there is no distinct age at which children develop object permanence, from his observations and experiments, Piaget (1957) claims it to be at about 9 months of age. Progression occurs gradually, and parents can aid and ensure this development through play. I have designed the Peek-A-Boo Box, an apparatus that takes a twist on the classic structure of a traditional imbucare. The Peek-A-Boo Box is a four by four feet cube shaped enclosure with six varying cut out shapes on the top, allowing for a child to match and drop the corresponding shaped object inside. Similar to an imbacure, when the object is dropped, it falls directly below, landing into its corresponding drawer that can be accessed from the outside, allowing for retrieval of the object. This activity fosters the concept of object permanence in that it teaches that an object out of sight still exists. The drawers are color coordinated with the color of the shapes and have different hinges that require different ways to be opened. This aspect of my invention can aid the later learning of distinguishing between color and shape, and the hinges introduce a way to practice problem-solving and fine motor skills. In comparison to a traditional imbacure, the most apparent difference is in the relative size. …show more content…
In the same way my invention foreshadows and aids other forms of development, cognitive development underlies all other facets of development in one way or another. Biological development is involved in the way that the attainment of object permanence encourages children to actively explore the world around them and become “little scientists” (Berger, 2010). This exploration encourages advancements in gross and fine motor skills. Physical development in turn, accounts for brain maturation, cell growth, development of dendrites, formations of synapses, and pruning which all (especially pruning) aid cognitive development. Regarding the significance of object permanence in emotional and social development, with this milestone, may come separation anxiety, which contributes to the evolving social bonds and attachments children form with others. With the progression from reactive pain and pleasure, to complex patterns of awareness in emotional development, the child is able to express fear through either separation anxiety or stranger wariness. Once children are able to recognize that a caregiver exists even when out of sight, touch, and/or heard, they may express signs of distress at separation. Signs of attachment are displayed through proximity seeking and contact maintaining