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Evidence for core social goal understanding (and, perhaps, core morality) in preverbal infants

J Kiley Hamlin1

  • 1Department of Psychology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canadacic.psych.ubc.ca.

The Behavioral and Brain Sciences
|June 27, 2024
PubMed

Insights

Infants possess innate social goal concepts crucial for understanding the world. These early-developing concepts support the idea of a core moral domain in babies.

Area of Science:

  • Cognitive Psychology
  • Developmental Psychology
  • Moral Psychology

Background:

  • Elizabeth Spelke's work highlights infants' core cognitive concepts.
  • Spelke posits that preverbal infants lack social goal concepts.
  • This commentary challenges that assertion.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To argue for the existence of core social goal concepts in preverbal infants.
  • To propose that these concepts are foundational to moral understanding.
  • To support the existence of a core moral domain.

Main Methods:

  • Conceptual analysis and argumentation.
  • Review of existing developmental psychology literature.
  • Theoretical integration of social cognition and moral development.

Main Results:

  • Preverbal infants possess core social goal concepts.
  • These concepts are operative very early in development.
  • Social goal concepts are fundamental to interpreting the moral world.

Conclusions:

  • Infants' early social goal concepts support a core moral domain.
  • Challenging Spelke's view on infant social cognition.
  • Early social understanding underpins moral evaluation.

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