Prospectives: Paul L. Harris |
Written by FIA |
Wednesday, 22 August 2012 00:00 |
In the latest issue of 2012 (35/3) the Prospectives section, launched in the previous issue, continues its development, featuring Paul L. Harris' The child as anthropologist.
As announced in the Editorial introduction of Infancia y Aprendizaje's new stage, all articles published in the Prospectives section will be freely accessible in the journal's electronic edition. We thus invite all our readers to view and spread the articles published in this section if they cater to their interest.
Read the abstract or access directly the full text article.
The child as anthropologist Paul L. Harris, Harvard University Accounts of cognitive development have often portrayed children as independent scientists who gather first-hand data and form theories about the natural world. I argue that this metaphor is inappropriate for children's cultural learning. In that domain, children are better seen as anthropologists who attend to, engage with, and learn from members of their culture. I describe several strategies that children use for such cultural learning. They trust in other people's testimony concerning invisible phenomena; they repeatedly question their caregivers; they defer to others people's demonstrations and claims; and they select informants who are likely to be reliable representatives of their culture.
Article published in Infancia y Aprendizaje, 2012, 35 (3), 259-277. View full text. |