Blackwell Reference Online

Extract

Over the last few decades, the field of infancy research has grown exponentially, and as we enter the new millennium we have more information on infant abilities – perceptual, cognitive, and social – than would have been dreamed of 30 or 40 years ago. There is good reason for this growth. For developmental psychologists, there exist vital questions regarding the origins and early manifestation of human abilities that can only be answered by investigating the abilities of infants, sometimes very young infants at that. In addition to questions about the perceptual, cognitive, and social capacities of the newborn, important questions exist regarding the processes underlying the exciting developments in motor skill, memory capacity, and perceptual, emotional, social, and cognitive ability that we see in infancy. The beginnings of communication and language are also detected in infancy. All these developments are of interest in their own right, but are also significant for what they may tell us about the origins and nature of later ability. Additionally, from an applied standpoint, there is growing emphasis on early detection of developmental problems and interventions that may alleviate or even prevent their emergence. These questions and concerns are not new, but their solutions require adequate techniques for studying infant ability. One thing that makes the field of infancy so exciting ... log in or subscribe to read full text