In one trick, a magician shows the audience a single apple on a table. She then puts a screen in front of the apple, picks up another apple, and apparently places it next to the first one, pulling her now-empty hand from behind the screen. She then removes the screen to reveal only a single apple. Research suggests that __________.
A) only children who passed conservation of number tasks would be surprised by the apparent disappearance of the second apple
B) 5-month-olds would look longer at the single apple than if the removal of the screen had revealed the expected two apples
C) only children who passed A-not-B tasks would be surprised by the apparent disappearance of the second apple
D) 5-month-olds would show surprise at whatever was revealed because their lack of object permanence would lead them to expect nothing behind the screen

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Research suggests that infants as young as 5 months old have a basic understanding of object permanence, meaning they expect objects to continue to exist even when out of sight. Therefore, when the screen is removed and only one apple is revealed instead of the expected two, they may look longer at the scene in surprise. Choice A (conservation of number tasks) and choice C (A-not-B tasks) are unrelated to this phenomenon. Choice D suggests that infants lack object permanence entirely, which is not supported by current research.

In One Trick, a Magician Shows the Audience a Single