If you want to get ahead, get a good master. Annette Karmiloff-Smith: the developmental perspective / Si quieres avanzar, ten una buena maestra. Annette Karmiloff-Smith: la mirada desde el desarrollo

Abstract

Annette Karmiloff-Smith’s perspective places development at the very core of of the explanation of psychological functioning. Her neuroconstructivist model involves several fundamental assumptions, as follows: (a) functional specificity is acquired through interactive experience with the environment through a process of progressive specialization; (b) the influence of each level of explanation in human development (i.e., genetic, cellular, neural, cognitive, behavioural and environmental) inter-depends on the others; (c) there is no one-to-one correspondence between the level of observable behaviours and the level of cognitive processes and mental representations; and (d) interaction with caregivers is the privileged development context. There is an urgency to translate these assumptions into practices that enable the optimization of developmental contexts; this paper addresses this urgency by suggesting the implications of this neuroconstructivist model for the assessment and design of support for children at risk of atypical development.