R. P. Hobson, or Peter Hobson, is a

Professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...

Developmental Development of the human body is the process of growth to maturity. The process begins with fertilization, where an egg released from the ovary of a female is penetrated by a sperm cell from a male. The resulting zygote develops through mitosis ...

Psychopathology Psychopathology is the study of mental illness. It includes the signs and symptoms of all mental disorders. The field includes Abnormal psychology, abnormal cognition, maladaptive behavior, and experiences which differ according to social norms ...

University College London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

known for his work on

autism Autism, also known as autism spectrum disorder (ASD), is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by differences or difficulties in social communication and interaction, a preference for predictability and routine, sensory processing d ...

and experimental

child psychology Developmental psychology is the scientific study of how and why humans grow, change, and adapt across the course of their lives. Originally concerned with infants and children, the field has expanded to include adolescence, adult development, ...

. His research leads him to conclusions concerning the origins of

consciousness Consciousness, at its simplest, is awareness of a state or object, either internal to oneself or in one's external environment. However, its nature has led to millennia of analyses, explanations, and debate among philosophers, scientists, an ...

, summarized in a book for the general reader, The Cradle of Thought. The core of his analysis is that human minds are the outcome of a successful series of interactions between infant and caregiver(s). In this Hobson's research has built on foundations established by

Colwyn Trevarthen Colwyn Trevarthen (2 March 1931 – 1 July 2024) was a New Zealand-British academic who was Professor of Child Psychology and Psychobiology at the University of Edinburgh. Background Trevarthen was born in Auckland, New Zealand on 2 March 1931. ...

from the mid-1970s onwards. Trevarthen identified distinct steps in pre-lingual infant development, Primary Intersubjectivity and Secondary Intersubjectivity, which endow the infant's developing mind/brain with the architecture necessary for the achievement of symbolic thought. Hobson throws further light on this basic claim by examining what occurs in cases where, for genetic or

environmental Environment most often refers to: __NOTOC__ * Natural environment, referring respectively to all living and non-living things occurring naturally and the physical and biological factors along with their chemical interactions that affect an organism ...

reasons, infants are denied the opportunity to investigate

intersubjective Intersubjectivity describes the shared understanding that emerges from interpersonal interactions. The term first appeared in social science in the 1970s and later incorporated into psychoanalytic theory by George E. Atwood and Robert Stolorow, ...

relationships. To achieve a rare vantage point on human development without

unethical Ethics is the philosophical study of moral phenomena. Also called moral philosophy, it investigates normative questions about what people ought to do or which behavior is morally right. Its main branches include normative ethics, applied eth ...

experimentation, Hobson examines cases of

, Down syndrome,

congenital A birth defect is an abnormal condition that is present at childbirth, birth, regardless of its cause. Birth defects may result in disability, disabilities that may be physical disability, physical, intellectual disability, intellectual, or dev ...

blindness and extreme social deprivation (for which statistically significant numbers of orphans rescued from

Nicolae Ceauşescu Nicolae may refer to: * Nicolae (name), an Aromanian and Romanian name * ''Nicolae'' (novel), a 1997 novel See also *Nicolai (disambiguation) *Nicolao Nicolao is an Italian given name and a surname. It may refer to the following: Given name *Ni ...

's Romanian

orphanage An orphanage is a residential institution, total institution or group home, devoted to the care of orphans and children who, for various reasons, cannot be cared by their biological families. The parents may be deceased, absent, or abusi ...

s were available). The obstacles each of these circumstances placed in the way of normal infant-caregiver interaction are finely examined. Hobson's argument constitutes a challenge to certain flavors of

sociobiology Sociobiology is a field of biology that aims to explain social behavior in terms of evolution. It draws from disciplines including psychology, ethology, anthropology, evolution, zoology, archaeology, and population genetics. Within the study of ...

and

Evolutionary Psychology Evolutionary psychology is a theoretical approach in psychology that examines cognition and behavior from a modern evolutionary perspective. It seeks to identify human psychological adaptations with regard to the ancestral problems they evolved ...

, in that it traces the conception of the human mind back to a 'cradle' of social interactions, without which consciousness in the full, human sense is unobtainable. On the other hand, Hobson demonstrates that a hard-wired emotional connection is crucial for an infant to start the process of intersubjective learning. The experience of having an emotion elicited by another human being, and eliciting emotional responses in others, is identified as the material out of which humans fashion their sense of

self In philosophy, the self is an individual's own being, knowledge, and values, and the relationship between these attributes. The first-person perspective distinguishes selfhood from personal identity. Whereas "identity" is (literally) same ...

other Other often refers to: * Other (philosophy), a concept in psychology and philosophy Other or The Other may also refer to: Film and television * ''The Other'' (1913 film), a German silent film directed by Max Mack * ''The Other'' (1930 film), ...

object Object may refer to: General meanings * Object (philosophy), a thing, being, or concept ** Object (abstract), an object which does not exist at any particular time or place ** Physical object, an identifiable collection of matter * Goal, an a ...

and

symbol A symbol is a mark, Sign (semiotics), sign, or word that indicates, signifies, or is understood as representing an idea, physical object, object, or wikt:relationship, relationship. Symbols allow people to go beyond what is known or seen by cr ...

. Hobson's thesis is of growing interest in

Philosophy of Mind Philosophy of mind is a branch of philosophy that deals with the nature of the mind and its relation to the Body (biology), body and the Reality, external world. The mind–body problem is a paradigmatic issue in philosophy of mind, although a ...

and related disciplines. Edward Skidelsky suggests that Hobson fatally overlooks the fact that people with autism learn to speak (see External Links, below). Others have understood Hobson to be blaming parents for autism, a charge explicitly rejected in The Cradle of Thought.

Publications

* The Cradle of Thought 2002 *Cognitive and social factors in the development of infants with Down Syndrome. Down Syndrome Research and Practice. Moore DG, Oates JM, Hobson RP and Goodwin J. (2002) *On engaging with people in early childhood: The case of congenital blindness. Clinical Child Psychology & Psychiatry. Sandler AM and Hobson RP (2002) *Are infants with autism socially engaged? A study of retrospective parental reports. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. Wimpory DC, Hobson RP, Williams JMG and Nash S. (2000) *Imitation and identification in autism. Journal of Child Psychology & Psychiatry, 40: 649-659. Hobson RP and Lee A. (1999) *Autism and Congential Blindness. Journal of Autism and Development Disorders, 29: 45-56. Hobson RP and Lee A. (1999) *Individual differences in young children's IQ: A social-developmental perspective. Journal of Child Psychology & Psychiatry, 40: 455-464. Crandell LE and Hobson RP (1999) * Autism and the Development of Mind 1993

External links

Interview in New ScientistCriticism from Edward SkidelskyMore background on the concepts of Primary and Secondary intersubjectivityPeter Hobson's current researchReview of Cradle of Thought
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hobson, Peter Academics of the University of London Autism researchers 21st-century British psychologists Living people Year of birth missing (living people)