OBJECT AND EVENT REPRESENTATION IN 61 2-MONTH-OLD INFANTS/

Two experiments were conducted in which infants had to use remembered knowledge of auditory-visual events to guide their reaching and graspi ng. The events involved a ball falling noisily through a tube and comi ng to rest at 1 of 2 locations, with either resting site specified by distinctive auditory information. The events were presented initially in the light and then in the dark to determine whether infants would r emember and use the auditory cues when they could no longer see where the ball fell. In both experiments, infants' reaching behavior was ini tiated and carried out after the sound ended, which ensured that searc h for the ball took place without support from ongoing visual or audit ory cues. Accurate searching for the ball depended on infants' experie nce in the light. The authors conclude that 6 1/2-months-olds can repr esent unseen objects and events and use this knowledge to guide their actions to achieve a goal. The success in this task was contrasted wit h the failures of infants this age in the Piagetian hidden object task .