Developmental niche construction

Flynn, E.G.; Laland, K.N.; Kendal, R.L.; Kendal, J.R.

Abstract

Niche construction is the modification of components in an environment through an organism's activities. Humans modify their environments mainly through ontogenetic and cultural processes, and it is this reliance on learning, plasticity and culture that lends human niche construction a special potency. In this paper we aim to facilitate discussion between researchers interested in niche construction and those interested in human development by highlighting some of the related processes. We discuss the transmission of culturally relevant information, how the human mind is a symbol-generating and artefact-devising system, and how these processes are bi-directional, with infants and children both being directed, and directing, their own development. We reflect on these in the light of four approaches: natural pedagogy, activity theory, distributed cognition and situated learning. Throughout, we highlight pertinent examples in non-humans that parallel or further explicate the processes discussed. Finally we offer three future directions; two involving the use of new techniques in the realms of neuroscience and modelling, and the third suggesting exploration of changes in the affects of niche construction across the lifespan.

Citation

Flynn, E., Laland, K., Kendal, R., & Kendal, J. (2013). Developmental niche construction. Developmental Science, 16(2), 296-313. https://doi.org/10.1111/desc.12030

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Publication Date: Mar 1, 2013
• Deposit Date: Aug 8, 2012
• Publicly Available Date: Jun 6, 2014
• Journal: Developmental Science
• Print ISSN: 1363-755X
• Electronic ISSN: 1467-7687
• Publisher: Wiley
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 16
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 296-313
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/desc.12030
• Keywords: Niche construction, Pedagogy, Activity theory, Distributed cognition, Situated learning, Cultural evolution.
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1504804