The development of a schema for permanency and constancy of objects occurs during which Piagetian stage?

• A. Preoperational stage
• B. Sensorimotor stage
• C. Formal operational stage
• D. Concrete operational stage

Answer: (B)

Object permanence, the understanding that objects continue to exist even when they are not being perceived, is built during the sensorimotor period. In this stage, infants learn about the world through their senses and their own actions, forming mental representations of objects as they interact with them. Early on, hidden objects seem to disappear, but as coordination of secondary circular reactions develops (roughly around eight to twelve months), they begin to search for partially hidden objects and eventually fully hidden ones. By the end of this period, they can hold in mind that an object still exists even when it’s out of sight, laying the groundwork for more advanced thinking in later stages.