Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: The search for human universals—capacities thought to be shared across human species—is often associated with the study of infancy. Infants are viewed as a major source of insight into the initial state of psychological organization. In this article, I outline three constraints on this approach: insufficiency of empirical evidence, conflation of related constructs, and rich interpretation from readouts. I argue that inquiries into human universals may be more productive if they are accompanied by a conceptual shift from privileging universals to privileging both variation and consistency. I propose scaling up infant research, validity considerations, and cautious generalization as key advances toward an empirically grounded science of infancy.
Source: Child Development Perspectives
Author: Leher Singh
Institution: University of Maryland, Baltimore County
Language: English
Subfield: Developmental and Educational Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W7118936736