ABSTRACT
This chapter suggests that the controversy over the interpretation of social behaviors in infancy is influenced by largely unrecognized theoretical models and frameworks. A key characteristic of the individualist framework is that social relations are considered to be internal cognitive-perceptual processes within the private mental sphere of each individual. The Cartesian picture of the mind has a strong influence on contemporary approaches to social development. The relational framework also rejects the Cartesian assumption that the inner is something private and hidden behind and only externally related to the outer. From the relational perspective, the infant's understanding of the physical world, such as spatial relations, is intertwined with their developing social understanding. Although physical and social cognition are partly intertwined, there are enough differences between interactions with persons and interactions with objects to make the issue of whether there is any developmental synchrony across areas a largely empirical enterprise.
