It's Probably Good to Talk

Abstract

It’s Probably Good to Talk Paul L. Harris (bio) Abstract Despite their diverse themes, the various articles in this special issue all focus on the possibility that the child’s view of the world is infused with premises and assumptions taken on board from other people. Demonstrating that process of transmission from parent to child is not easy. One powerful strategy would be to show that parental discourse predicts the cognitive attainments of adopted children. Meantime, the articles provide encouraging evidence for the following conclusions: (1) parents vary not just in the sophistication of the emotional insight that they nurture in their children but also in the positive—or negative—orientation of that insight; (2) mothers who offer more explanations in discussing a family conflict have children who report more flexible coping; (3) mothers’ metamemory comments are associated with children’s sensitivity to the way in which a given source of information supplies information; (4) mothers often invite children to contemplate the future by reminding them of similar occasions in the past; and (5) parental use of analogy is associated with greater scientific understanding on the part of the child. Despite their diverse themes, the various articles in this special issue all focus on the possibility that the child's view of the world is infused with premises and assumptions taken on board from other people. Demonstrating that process of transmission from parent to child is not easy. One powerful strategy would be to show that parental discourse predicts the cognitive attainments of adopted children. Meantime, the articles provide encouraging evidence for the following conclusions: (1) parents vary not just in the sophistication of the emotional insight that they nurture in their children but also in the positive—or negative—orientation of that insight; (2) mothers who offer more explanations in discussing a family conflict have children who report more flexible coping; (3) mothers' metamemory comments are associated with children's sensitivity to the way in which a given source of information supplies information; (4) mothers often invite children to contemplate the future by reminding them of similar occasions in the past; and (5) parental use of analogy is associated with greater scientific understanding on the part of the child. As adults, vast tracts of what we believe to be the case depend on social input. Consider the future. No doubt, we can privately decide where we will eat lunch or where we will go for our next vacation. Yet our anticipation of how larger issues will unfold—the future of Catholicism, prospects for democracy in the Middle East, whether Prince Charles will become king—depends on our assimilation of others' testimony. Our sense of where the world is headed is not something we know off our own bat. Or consider the gathering pace of scientific knowledge. We may be personally skeptical of scientific claim X, and very occasionally we can check [End Page 158] claim Y for ourselves. For innumerable other scientific claims, however, we are not much better off than kindergartners. We have to rely on expert authority to tell us about the origin of species, global warming, or the possible benefits of stem cell research. Finally, consider our private mental states. Here, finally, it is tempting to agree with Descartes and to congratulate ourselves on a domain where we can come to our own indubitable conclusions. Well, yes and no. Admittedly, we are often in a privileged position with respect to our own particular beliefs, emotions, and recollections. However, a growing body of developmental research shows that the acquisition of the framework that we use to identify and characterize those mental states is critically dependent on the conversations we have with others (Astington & Baird, 2005; Harris, de Rosnay, & Pons, 2005). In short, what we take to be the case about our changing world, about cosmological and biological processes, and even about the nature of our inner life is scarcely the unalloyed product of our own firsthand observation or ratiocination. The articles in this special issue cover a wide range of topics, yet I see them all as a further contribution to the general claim that the child's view of the world—and ultimately the adult...