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A case of stunted development? Existential reasoning is contingent on a developing theory of mind

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 December 2006

E. Margaret Evans  and
Henry M. Wellman
E. Margaret Evans*
Affiliation:
Center for Human Growth and Development, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI48109-0406http://www.umich.edu/~evansem/http://www.umich.edu/~chgdwww/faculty/wellman.html
Henry M. Wellman*
Affiliation:
Center for Human Growth and Development, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI48109-0406http://www.umich.edu/~evansem/http://www.umich.edu/~chgdwww/faculty/wellman.html
*
evansem@umich.edu
hmw@umich.edu
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Abstract:

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Missing from Bering's account of the evolutionary origins of existential reasoning is an explicit developmental framework, one that takes into account community input. If Bering's selectionist explanation was on target then one might predict a unique and relatively robust developmental trajectory, regardless of input. Evidence suggests instead that children's existential reasoning is contingent on their developing theory of mind.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 29 , Issue 5 , October 2006 , pp. 471 - 472
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2006