Apes, Monkeys, Children, and the Growth of Mind (The Developing Child)

353 Pages·2006·2.62 MB·English

by  Dr. Juan Carlos Gomez

The Developing Child
Bringingtogetherandilluminatingtheremarkablerecent
researchondevelopmentfrominfancytoadolescence,for
studentsofdevelopmentalpsychology,policymakers,
parents,andallothersconcernedwiththefuture
ofthenextgeneration.
series editors
JeromeBruner
NewYorkUniversity
MichaelCole
UniversityofCalifornia,SanDiego
AnnetteKarmiloff-Smith
NeurocognitiveDevelopmentUnit,InstituteofChildHealth,London
JosephJ.Campos
UniversityofCalifornia,Berkeley

Apes, Monkeys, Children,
Growth of Mind
and the
Juan Carlos Gómez
harvard university press
Cambridge,Massachusetts,andLondon,England
2004
Copyright©2004bythePresidentandFellowsofHarvardCollege
Allrightsreserved
PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Gómez,JuanCarlos,1959–
Apes,monkeys,children,andthegrowthofmind/JuanCarlosGómez.
p.cm.—(Thedevelopingchild)
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN0-674-01145-7
1.Cognitioninchildren. 2.Psychology,Comparative. 3.Primates—
Psychology.
I.Title. II.Series.
BF723.C5G652004
156.′5—dc22
2004042433
ToTriz,
wholivedandlovedthroughallthatcame
ATriz,
yloquenaciódenosotros

Contents
Preface ix
1 Hands,Faces,andInfancy:TheOriginsof
PrimateMinds 1
2 PerceivingaWorldofObjects 28
3 PracticalIntelligence:DoingThingswithObjects 58
4 UnderstandingRelationsBetweenObjects:Causality 94
5 TheLogicofObjectRelations 124
6 ObjectsintheWorld 150
7 Faces,Gestures,andCalls 173
8 UnderstandingOtherSubjects 204
9 SocialLearning,Imitation,andCulture 238
10 ConsciousnessandLanguage 266
11 LearningfromComparisons:TheEvolutionof
CognitiveDevelopments 292
References 311
Index 333

Preface
Whatcanthestudyofmonkeysandapestellusaboutthedevelop-
ing minds of young human beings? This is the topic of this book,
and the abiding interest of my academic career. My intention has
been to write an introduction to this fascinating topic but at the
sametime,withoutlosingreadability,todiscusssomeofthedeeper
issues at the confluence of developmental and evolutionary cogni-
tivesciences.
Theargumentissimple:ourmindsarepartofawiderevolution-
ary pattern discernible in the minds of other primates. Its most
characteristicfeatureisdevelopmentasanadaptivestrategy.Inmost
primates infancy and childhood have been extended over an in-
creasingly higher proportion of the life span. Characteristically,
primates have prolonged infancies and a slowed-down process of
development, as if there were special benefits to be gained from
this otherwise risky beginning. One of these benefits is the ability
to get to know their worlds—both physical and social—in better
detail and greater plasticity, and consequently, the ability to pro-
ducemoreflexibleandadaptivebehaviors.
Primates evolved hands and sophisticated visual and tactual sys-
tems which have allowed them to discover and exploit a world
made of natural objects. They also evolved a complex social life
withintricaterelationshipsandelaborateinteractionsinwhichoth-