The Childâ s Discovery of Mind (The Developing Child)

A study of the child's mind and the theory which indicates that there is a specific threshold in a child's formation. Usually around the fourth birthday, a series of modifications in the brain suddenly allows a child to become conscious of the existence of options other than its own: can thenceforth ascribe mental states to others and begin to understand its own mental life. Previous to that period, they could not conceive of anyone thinking differently from itself (literally). The identification of this crucial stage in children's social and intellectual developmcnt is a very significant advance in educational and psychological theory. And it has had the interesting offshoot of explaining the roots of autism.