Young Matthew is playing with his mother. She has his favorite stuffed animal, and she suddenly hides it under his blanket. Instead of looking for it under the blanket, Matthew starts to cry a little, since he thinks his toy is gone. Matthew has not yet developed
A) conservation.
B) reversibility.
C) transitory properties.
D) object permanence.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Matthew's reaction indicates that he has not yet developed object permanence, which is the understanding that objects continue to exist even when they cannot be seen or perceived. If he had object permanence, he would know that his toy is still under the blanket and would look for it there instead of assuming it's gone. Conservation, reversibility, and transitory properties are not relevant to this scenario.

Young Matthew Is Playing with His Mother