ABSTRACT
The assumptions on which developmental psychology has been said to be based are of two kinds, biological and philosophical. The philosophical assumptions relate to the sensory origin of experience, and hence to the nature of the acquisition of knowledge in the individual. The issue of the influence of Charles Darwin on developmental psychology has been widely discussed. The claims made concerning the limited impact of Darwin receive support from a number of sources. The triumphalist approach to the role of Darwin includes the exaggeration of the status of Darwin himself within his contemporary social and scientific context. There is more than a hint of the "Great Man" orientation in developmental psychology's history of its Darwinian roots. The most influential tenets of non-Darwinian biology-those that have determined most precisely the research programmes of developmental psychology-are of the same cast. The interconnectedness of the biological and the philosophical doctrines is well illustrated by the role played by J. Lamarck.
