Infant Development: The Rational Constructivist Theory Essay

There are different paradigms and theories to discuss infants’ psychological development. The first influential theory is called neo-nativism which claims that there are some cognitive structures that are “prewired at birth” and can be reshaped through special experience-dependent activities (Farina, 2016, p. 618). Another dominant theory is empiricism, the major argument of which is that associative learning mechanisms contribute the most to the development (Larcher, 2017). In this paper, the new approach will be considered called “rational constructivism” (Xu & Kushnir, 2013). Breaking this concept into two categories, this theory indicates that infants during their development are both rational and constructivist in their reasoning, especially when this reasoning is linked with probabilistic hypotheses.

Rational constructivist theory of infant development can guide many spheres of development. Xu & Kushnir (2013) and Xu (2019) used rational constructivist theory to argue that in areas of language, physical and psychological reasoning, object understanding, and understanding of individual preferences, probabilistic reasoning is key in domain-general learning. In this list of areas, attachment relationships seem to be absent. Attachment relationships mean the emotional connection between infant and primary caregiver, for instance mother and father (Dagan & Sagi‐Schwartz, 2018). Cassidy et al. (2013) conducted complex research on the scholarship of attachment theory and came to the conclusion that stable attachment relationships in infancy contribute to children’s mental health, safe development, and absence of internal hatred. The goal of this paper is to try to connect whole this research on attachment with Xu’s & Kushnir’s (2013) conceptualization of rational constructivist behavior. The most integral aims of this connection are to formulate a feasible research question and describe the methods that can be used for research.

Keeping in mind that rational constructivist scholarship is highly influenced by the discussion on probabilistic reasoning, attachment relationships can also be conceptualized in the same manner. The most dominant theory about attachment relationships is that there is an association between well-built relationships with caregivers in infancy and prosocial behavior in the future (Gross et al., 2017). The possible research question for the study may sound “How attachment relationships are linked with the paradigm that early childhood behavior is rational, statistical, and inferential?” The major problem here is that the emotional link with parents cannot be explained well by the concepts of rationality. As for the “constructionist” part of the rational constructivist theory, such discussion can be impactful. Concerning this question, Keddell indicates: “within this view, categorisation processes associated with attachment theory are viewed as the product of knowledge generation within a specific cultural and social context” (p. 5). In the frame of this research question, specific cultural and social context can be discussed in the way how it contributes to the rational probabilistic inference of infants.

Speaking about possible methods for studying the aspect of communication between infants and adults, one should use qualitative methods, such as experiments and focus groups. The experiment is one of the key methods in considering the influence of various factors on the development of the child. This is due to the fact that it is impossible to conduct a sufficiently high-quality interview with an infant due to the small age and undeveloped speech. Focus groups can be used to find out the difference between children raised under close supervision of parents and children who are deprived of contact with family members. By creating different groups of children, it is possible to trace how one aspect visible in one group is absent in another.

References

Cassidy, J., Jones, J., & Shaver, P. (2013). Contributions of attachment theory and research: A framework for future research, translation, and policy. Development and Psychopathology, 25(4pt2), 1415-1434. Web.

Dagan, O., & Sagi‐Schwartz, A. (2018). Early attachment network with mother and father: An unsettled issue. Child Development Perspectives, 12(2), 115-121.

Farina, M. (2016). Three approaches to human cognitive development: Neo-nativism, neuroconstructivism, and dynamic enskillment. The British Journal for the Philosophy of Science, 67(2), 617-641.

Gross, J. T., Stern, J. A., Brett, B. E., & Cassidy, J. (2017). The multifaceted nature of prosocial behavior in children: Links with attachment theory and research. Social development, 26(4), 661-678.

Keddell, E. (2017). Interpreting children’s best interests: Needs, attachment and decision-making.Journal of Social Work, 17(3), 1-19. Web.

Larcher, V. (2017). Children are not small adults: Significance of biological and cognitive development in medical practice. Handbook of the philosophy of medicine. Dordrecht: Springer, 371-93. Web.

Xu, F., & Kushnir, T. (2013). Infants are rational constructivist learners. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 22(1), 28-32.

Xu, F. (2019). Towards a rational constructivist theory of cognitive development. Psychological review, 126(6), 1-24. Web.