Using the brain to understand the developing mind: Commentary on the article “Where developmental psychology and neuroscience meet: A threatening or a felicitous encounter?” by María-José Rodrigo

Abstract

Spanish

This paper is a commentary to the article by Dr. Rodrigo on the convenience of incorporating data from Neuroscience to the effort of understanding age-related changes in cognition. In my opinion, the encounter of the fields of Developmental Psychology and Neuroscience that has strengthened in the last years is extremely positive. The argumentation for my positioning is twofold. On the one hand, I consider that measures of brain function constitute a dependent variable of special interest when it comes to understanding psychological processes and their development across the life span. On the other hand, I believe that the assessment of data from multiple levels of analysis provides a more robust scientific test for any kind of theory including those of human development.

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