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Cited by 1,479Child and Animal Learning DevelopmentCategorization, perception, and languageLanguage Development and Disorders

Words, Thoughts, and Theories

Gopnik, Alison, Meltzoff, Andrew N.·1997·The MIT Press eBooks
DOI 10.7551/mitpress/7289.001.0001
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Abstract

Words, Thoughts, and Theories articulates and defends the "theory theory" of cognitive and semantic development, the idea that infants and young children, like scientists, learn about the world by forming and revising theories, a view of the origins of knowledge and meaning that has broad implications for cognitive science. Gopnik and Meltzoff interweave philosophical arguments and empirical data from their own and other's research. Both the philosophy and the psychology, the arguments and the data, address the same fundamental epistemological question: How do we come to understand the world around us? Recently, the theory theory has led to much interesting research. However, this is the first book to look at the theory in extensive detail and to systematically contrast it with other theories. It is also the first to apply the theory to infancy and early childhood, to use the theory to provide a framework for understanding semantic development, and to demonstrate that language acquisition influences theory change in children.The authors show that children just beginning to talk are engaged in profound restructurings of several domains of knowledge. These restructurings are similar to theory changes in science, and they influence children's early semantic development, since children's cognitive concerns shape and motivate their use of very early words. But, in addition, children pay attention to the language they hear around them and this too reshapes their cognition, and causes them to reorganize their theories. Bradford Books imprint

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  • The tendency to assume that mental states are direct representations of psychical reality is normal in a 20-month-old child.

    “The clearest of these is the tendency to assume that mental states are direct representations of psychical reality, normal in a 20-month-old child (Gopnik & Meltzoff, 1997).”

    From A developmental, mentalization-based approach to the understanding and treatment of borderline personality disorder (2009) · cites this paper as Gopnik & Meltzoff, 1997

  • Theory theory is the idea that we use a common sense psychological theory, or folk psychology, to understand other minds, rather than internally simulating them.

    “On the other side of the debate is 'theory theory', or the idea that we use a common sense psychological theory, or folk psychology, to understand other minds, rather than internally simulating them (e.g.Gopnik and Meltzoff, 1997).”

    From Social cognitive development during adolescence (2006) · cites this paper as Gopnik and Meltzoff, 1997

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Authors
Gopnik, A., & Meltzoff, A. N.
ORCID
Meltzoff, Andrew N.
Venue
The MIT Press eBooks
Publisher
The MIT Press
Published
1997-01-07
DOI
10.7551/mitpress/7289.001.0001
OpenAlex
W4302454383
Cited by
1,479
References
0
Citations by year
2026: 55 · 2025: 37 · 2024: 66 · 2023: 76 · 2022: 51 · 2021: 59 · 2020: 51 · 2019: 109 · 2018: 50 · 2017: 28 · 2016: 49 · 2015: 37 · 2014: 48 · 2013: 40 · 2012: 55
FWCI
38.50
Type
book
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
The MIT Press eBooks (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Child and Animal Learning Development
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Categorization, perception, and language
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Language Development and Disorders
Keywords
theory theory, cognitive development, semantic development, language acquisition, theory change, infant cognition, early childhood, epistemology, origin of knowledge, language and cognition

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