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The foundations of psychological understanding
Author(s) -
Goswami Usha
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
developmental science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.801
H-Index - 127
eISSN - 1467-7687
pISSN - 1363-755X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-7687.2006.00531.x
Subject(s) - psychology , joint attention , gaze , centrality , contingency , cognitive psychology , cognition , social cognition , action (physics) , reading (process) , cognitive science , developmental psychology , autism , linguistics , philosophy , physics , mathematics , combinatorics , quantum mechanics , neuroscience , psychoanalysis
In this paper, I review some recent submissions to Developmental Science that advance our understanding of psychological development. More and more submissions to the journal explore the origins of knowledge and, for psychological knowledge, such origins are multiple. Here I consider the contribution of mechanisms such as contingency detection, gaze following and gaze monitoring, social referencing and joint attention to emergent psychological understanding. I also consider infant understanding of goal‐directed action, and the intimate connection between language acquisition and psychological development. The centrality of intention‐reading skills to both language and social cognition is highlighted.