The Infants World

What do infants know? What do they feel, and how do they come to understand whats happening around them? How do they begin to construe others as persons with feelings and intentions? These questions inspire this remarkable new look at the infants world. The short answer? Infants are much more sophisticated perceivers, feelers, and thinkers of their world than we may think. In this lively book, Philippe Rochat makes a case for an ecological approach to human development. Looking at the ecological niche infants occupy, he describes how infants develop capabilities and conceptual understanding in relation to three interconnected domains: the self, objects, and other people. Drawing on the great body of contemporary competent infant research, Rochat offers a thoughtful overview of many current, controversial topics, from neonatal imitation to early numeracy, to the development of self-awareness. In a provocative conclusion, he describes infancy as a series of key transitionsso dramatic that they are sometimes called revolutionsand maps out the processes that impel development. Offering a unifying theoretical vision of the vast research of recent years, The Infants World is an inspiring introduction to the liveliest area of modern psychology.