This paper looks at the important similarities between Norbert Elias and two of the most well-known developmental psychologists of childhood, John Bowlby and Lev Vygotsky. After discussing some of the connections in their approach to the social learning of young children, it argues that Elias's perspective is more suitable for integrating the affective and cognitive aspects of early development and comparing the many different types of language that humanity has developed. Long-term research of parent–child relations in different cultures can also illuminate some of the ways in which our ancestors developed a range of caring and protective arrangements for the survival of their offspring.
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