The parent–infant dyad and the construction of the subjective self
Abstract
Developmental psychology and psychopathology has in the past been more concerned with the quality of self‐representation than with the development of the subjective agency which underpins our experience of feeling, thought and action, a key function of mentalisation. This review begins by contrasting a Cartesian view of pre‐wired introspective subjectivity with a constructionist model based on the assumption of an innate contingency detector which orients the infant towards aspects of the social world that react congruently and in a specifically cued informative manner that expresses and facilitates the assimilation of cultural knowledge. Research on the neural mechanisms associated with mentalisation and social influences on its development are reviewed. It is suggested that the infant focuses on the attachment figure as a source of reliable information about the world. The construction of the sense of a subjective self is then an aspect of acquiring knowledge about the world through the caregiver's pedagogical communicative displays which in this context focuses on the child's thoughts and feelings. We argue that a number of possible mechanisms, including complementary activation of attachment and mentalisation, the disruptive effect of maltreatment on parent–child communication, the biobehavioural overlap of cues for learning and cues for attachment, may have a role in ensuring that the quality of relationship with the caregiver influences the development of the child's experience of thoughts and feelings.
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In mirroring the infant, the caregiver must achieve more than contingency; the mirroring must be marked or exaggerated, slightly distorted, if the infant is to understand the caregiver's display as part of the infant's emotional experience rather than an expression of the caregiver's own.
“In mirroring the infant the caregiver must achieve more than contingency (in time, space, and emotional tone). The mirroring must be 'marked' (e.g., exaggerated), in other words, slightly distorted, if the infant is to understand the caregiver's display as part of the infant's emotional experience rather than an expression of hers”
From A developmental, mentalization-based approach to the understanding and treatment of borderline personality disorder (2009) · cites this paper as Fonagy et al., 2007
Toddlers assume there is nothing unique about their own thoughts or feelings.
“They will therefore also assume that there is nothing unique about their own thoughts or feelings (Fonagy et al., 2007).”
From A developmental, mentalization-based approach to the understanding and treatment of borderline personality disorder (2009) · cites this paper as Fonagy et al., 2007
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- Authors
- Fonagy, P., Gergely, G., & Target, M.
- Affiliations
- Anna Freud Centre (GB)
- ORCID
- Fonagy, Peter
- Venue
- Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2007-03
- Volume
- 48
- Issue
- 3-4
- Pages
- 288-328
- ISSN
- 0021-9630 (ISSN-L)
- 1469-7610
- OpenAlex
- W2138022012
- Cited by
- 555
- References
- 50
- Citations by year
- 2026: 13 · 2025: 16 · 2024: 29 · 2023: 38 · 2022: 29 · 2021: 41 · 2020: 26 · 2019: 39 · 2018: 34 · 2017: 32 · 2016: 37 · 2015: 38 · 2014: 39 · 2013: 40 · 2012: 26
- FWCI
- 3.45
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- UCL Discovery (University College London) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Child and Animal Learning Development
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychoanalysis and Psychopathology Research
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Attachment and Relationship Dynamics
- Keywords
- parent-infant dyads, subjective self, mentalization, subjective agency, attachment, contingency detection, constructionism, attachment figures, maltreatment, child development
- MeSH terms
- Affect, Animals, Awareness, Brain, Brain Mapping, Child, Child, Preschool, Communication, Emotions, Empathy, Humans, Infant, Infant, Newborn, Internal-External Control, Language Development, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Object Attachment, Parent-Child Relations, Personality Development, Self Concept, Social Environment, Personal Construct Theory
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