Renée Baillargeon (1987) habituated 3.5- and 4.5-month-old infants to a screen that rotated in a 180 degree arc. She then placed a wooden box directly in the path of the screen, and rotated the screen either until it made contact with the box (a possible event) or until it passed through the box (an impossible event). On the basis of what evidence did Baillargeon conclude that 4.5-month-olds possessed some notion of object permanence?

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Baillargeon concluded that 4.5-month-olds possessed some notion of object permanence because the infants looked longer at the impossible event, indicating they found it surprising and thus had expectations about the continuity and solidity of objects.

Renée Baillargeon (1987) Habituated 3