Which cognitive milestone is typically evident by 8-12 months?

• A. Object permanence
• B. Stranger anxiety
• C. Language development
• D. Imitation of actions

Answer: (A)

Object permanence, the understanding that objects continue to exist even when they can’t be seen, is a cognitive milestone typically evident by 8 to 12 months. At this stage, infants begin to search for partially hidden objects and may show surprise when something disappears, signaling they hold a mental representation of the object’s continued existence. This reflects a shift in sensorimotor thinking from purely immediate experiences to recognizing outcomes that aren’t in view, a key step in developing more complex problem-solving and memory.

Stranger anxiety is an emotional response to unfamiliar people and can appear around this age, but it’s not a cognitive milestone. Language development follows with babbling and first words gradually emerging, and imitation of actions also appears, but the hallmark cognitive change best aligns with the emergence of object permanence.