This is a book about domain-specific cognition – the proposal that at least some human conceptual abilities are specialized for some types of contents and not for others. In this chapter we address the development of a single domain: everyday understanding of the mind. We suggest that this development is best understood as the formulation of a succession of naive theories. Moreover, this “theory theory” can help to characterize cognitive domains more generally and to explain domain-specific development. Our chapter, therefore, joins company with a number of recent discussions drawing parallels between theory change in science and cognitive development (Carey, 1985, 1988; Gopnik, 1984, 1988; Karmiloff-Smith & Inhelder, 1974; Keil, 1987; Wellman, 1985, 1990).
According to the framework of evolutionary psychology, the human mind should be considered in terms of its evolved adaptedness to the environment (Karmiloff-Smith, Grant, Bellug...
WELLMAN, HENRY M., and JOHNSON, CARL N. Understanding of Mental Processes: A Developmental Study of Remember and Forget. CHILD DEVELOPMENT, 1979, 50, 79-88. Children's comprehen...
JOHNSON, CARL NILS, and WELLMAN, HENRY M. Children's Developing Understanding of Mental Verbs: Remember, Know, and Guess. CHILD DEVELOPMENT, 1980, 51, 1095-1102. Preschool child...
Although the mere exposure effect has been researched widely, surprisingly little is known about the attitudinal and cognitive effects of message repetition. It was hypothesized...
▪ Abstract This chapter reviews the recent research on motivation, beliefs, values, and goals, focusing on developmental and educational psychology. The authors divide the chapt...
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