New views on cognitive development.

Recent empirical findings viewed from a cognitive developmental perspective suggest new interpretive stances toward three familiar themes -the fears of infancy, the discontinuous quality of stages in cognitive functioning, and the capacity for resilience in cognitive development. (1) Time of onset and decline of separation anxiety in infants are primarily a function of the infant's level of cognitive development rather than variation in interactive experiences with the caretaker. (2) Cognitive competences seem to be severely limited to specific problem contexts, and we should not talk of competences in the abstract. Hence stages should be viewed as continuous and gradual. (3) Young mammals seem to retain a capacity for recovery from early experiences that retard normal development if they are fortunate enough to be moved to a more benign context.