Why developmental psychology is incomplete without comparative and cross-cultural perspectives—Nielson 2016

Developmental psychology has long relied on animal models and cultural data to construct hypotheses of how social and cognitive processes evolve throughout the lifetime. Developmental, cross-cultural, and comparative methods are uncommon. The necessity for such an approach is illustrated in pieces by Heyes, Schmelz & Call, and Keller in this theme issue. We examine contemporary studies on social learning, cooperation, prosociality, and philosophy of mind. We want to show how comparative and cross-cultural empiricism has changed our knowledge of human development and the evolution of the human cultural mind.

Nielsen, M., & Haun, D. (2016). Why developmental psychology is incomplete without comparative and cross-cultural perspectives. Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences, 371(1686), 20150071. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2015.0071