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THE TERM OBJECT CONSTANCY WAS INTRODUCED into the psychoanalytic literature by Hartmann in 1952, when he said, "…there is a long way from the object that exists only as long as it is need satisfying to that form of satisfactory object relations that includes object constancy" (p. 163). Since that time most psychoanalytic writers on the subject have agreed with Hartmann that object constancy should be regarded as one stage in the development of object relations; that it refers to both the libidinal and the cognitive aspects of the young child's attachment to the mother; and that it probably presupposes, on the side of the ego, a certain degree of neutralization of aggressive as well as of libidinal energy (Hartmann, 1952), (1953). There has been considerable disagreement among psychoanalysts, however, about the definition, the timing, and the criteria for evaluating this stage of development.
Most writers have placed the attainment of "libidinal" object constancy within an age range of six to eighteen months (for a thorough review of the literature, see Fraiberg, 1969); (see also Décarie, 1965);