Object permanence: the dictionary describes it as “the child's ability to know that objects continue to exist even though they can no longer be seen or heard… plays an important role in the theory of cognitive development.” The idea of ​​object permanence has been shown in several cartoons, such as Family Guy. The family's one-year-old, Stewie, is eating a meal when his father passes by and plays peek-a-boo with him. Stewie freaks out when his dad hides his face behind his hands and immediately starts looking for him. Stewie gasps when his father suddenly reappears and becomes frustrated when his father disappears again, right in the middle of his sentence. This is a great example of object permanence. As stated earlier, object permanence is a skill learned when we are infants and toddlers. There are six stages that a child must go through to fully develop this essential skill: the pattern of reflexes, secondary circular reactions, coordination of secondary reactions, tertiary circular reactions, and different mental combinations. During the reflex pattern phase, visual tracking of the child begins, even if his or her vision is not yet optimal. This pattern is absolutely vital to the child's growth and development; the visual stimulation the baby is exposed to helps the baby learn to detect movements. The idea that toys and people can disappear has not yet begun to form at this stage; the child has no idea that things exist outside of his current world. A child during the secondary phase of circular motion will reach for a partially hidden toy; this is considered one of the highlights of this stage because it shows that the child is becoming more and more familiar with that… medium of paper… that understanding of the concept of object permanence; studying infants between the ages of one and four months, Bower and Wishart found that an infant continues to reach for a toy for approximately ninety seconds after the lights in the room are turned off; the child in question had the chance to see that toy and start reaching for it before the lights were turned off. Works Cited Carlos, JP. “Object Permanence: The 6 Stages of Childhood Growth and Development.” HubPages. Np, 11 November 2012. Web. 2 March 2014. .MacFarlane, Seth, prod. 03 - First 2 years - Permanence Object.mp4. Perf. Jen Byers. Family Guy, 2011. Web. March 2, 2014. .McLeod, Saulo. "Sensorimotor stage". Simply psychology. Np, nd Web. March 3 2014. .