Language development as related to stage 6 object permanence development

Abstract

A longitudinal study of three children examined the relation between object permanence and language development. Unlike other studies, an independent measure of object permanence development was provided. While there was not a one-to-one correspondence between object permanence and language, there were relations at certain points in development. There was a rough relationship between the onset of stage 6 of object permanence and the onset of single-word utterances. Total vocabulary showed a large increase around the time of entrance into the preoperational period of object permanence development. At the same time, the semantic categories Nonexistence and Recurrence appeared. No differences were found in the use of function forms and substantive forms before object permanence development.