Infants' Sense of People

Drawingonabroadrangeofresearchanddevelopmentaltheoryandfocusingoninfantsduringtheirfirstyearoflife,MariaLegersteeassertsthattheyhaveaninnatesenseofpeopleatbirth,whichisactivatedthroughsympatheticemotions.Shequestionstheideathatinfantsusephysicalparameterssuchascontingenciesormotiontodistinguishpeoplefromobjects,andrejectstheassumptionthatinfantsaremechanicalcreaturesbeforetheybecomepsychologicalones.Shearguespersuasivelythatbeforeinfantslearntospeak,interactionswithothersarepossiblebecauseinfantshaveaprimitivepre-linguistic'theoryofmind'.