Bjorklund D F
Florida Atlantic University, Department of Psychology, Boca Raton 33431, USA.
Child Dev. 1997 Feb;68(1):144-8.
With the waning of influence of Piaget's theory and the shortcomings of information-processing perspectives of cognitive growth, cognitive developmentalists lack a common set of broad, overarching principles and assumptions--a metatheory--to guide their research. Developmental biology is suggested as metatheory for cognitive development. Although it is important for developmentalists to understand proximal biological causes (e.g., brain development), most important for such a metatheory is an evolutionary perspective. Some basic principles of evolutionary psychology are introduced, and examples of contemporary research and theory consistent with these ideas are provided.
随着皮亚杰理论影响力的减弱以及认知发展信息加工观点的缺陷，认知发展学家缺乏一套共同的广泛、总体性原则和假设——一种元理论——来指导他们的研究。有人建议将发展生物学作为认知发展的元理论。虽然发展学家理解近端生物学原因（如大脑发育）很重要，但对这样一种元理论来说，最重要的是进化视角。文中介绍了进化心理学的一些基本原则，并提供了与这些观点一致的当代研究和理论实例。
