In 1997, I argued that with the loss of Piaget's theory as an overarching guide, cognitive development had become disjointed and a new metatheory was needed to unify the field. I suggested developmental biology, particularly evolutionary theory, as a candidate. Here, I examine the increasing emphasis of biology in cognitive development research…

The importance of eye gaze as a means of communication is indisputable. However, there is debate about whether there is a dedicated neural module, which functions as an eye gaze detector and when infants are able to use eye gaze cues in a referential way. The application of neuroscience methodologies to developmental psychology has provided new…

Classic theories of self-development suggest people define themselves in part through internalized perceptions of other people's beliefs about them, known as reflected self-appraisals. This study uses functional magnetic resonance imaging to compare the neural correlates of direct and reflected self-appraisals in adolescence (N = 12, ages 11-14…

The condition of deafness presents a developmental context that provides insight into the biological, cultural, and linguistic factors underlying the development of neural systems that impact social cognition. Studies of visual attention, behavioral regulation, language development, and face and human action perception are discussed. Visually…

Although developmental psychologists are generally happy to endorse dissociations and gradualist views of development like Woolley's (2006), the design and interpretation of developmental research often suggests an implicit commitment to a cleaner, less dissociative, sudden-transition view of development. Such an implicit commitment may derive…

Two lines of research on the development of Piagetian concepts are examined in terms of the effects of their methodological procedures on the substantive results of the research. (JMB)

Argues that the simplification strategy of research is useful for understanding the basic cognitive processes that are necessary for mature performance in conservation, transitivity, moral judgment, causal inference, and other Piagetian tasks. (JMB)

This longitudinal study combined, in a single study, different aspects of children's knowledge about mental phenomena and thus could investigate relations among the development of language, theory of mind, and later metamemory. In total, 183 German children were tested at ages 3, 4, and 5. Each time of testing included a set of theory-of-mind…

Investigated the relationship between psychometrically defined brightness and cognitive development within Piaget's stage theory. Subjects were fifth- and seventh-grade boys. (SDH)

Argues that developmental psychologists need attitudes, methods, and conceptual schemes that integrate the distinctive contributions of both nature and nurture in order to study change and consistency in developmental functions, as well as individual differences in behaviors of interest. A conceptual scheme for early mental development is…

Presents a study which assessed preschool children's understanding of "front,""back," and "side" through a variety of tasks. A developmental sequence is defined. (ED)

Study concerned with the mechanisms in terms of which the developmental transformation from one cognitive structure to another occurs. (Author)

Focuses on the conceptual implications of analyses of individual differences in francophone post-Piagetian research. Maintains that these analyses are preoccupied by the "American question" of measurement and method, instead of attempting a theoretical account of the issues raised by intraindividual and interindividual variability in…

Describes evolutionary developmental psychology as the study of the genetic and ecological mechanisms that govern the development of social and cognitive competencies common to all human beings and the epigenetic (gene-environment interactions) processes that adapt these competencies to local conditions. Outlines basic assumptions and domains of…

Piaget's concept of "internalization" is analyzed and related to Bruner's representational theories of cognitive development. Cognitive structures are shown to be real exclusively in an actual representation. (Author/SDH)