How developmental dissociations can inform cognitive theories

Introduction The history of cognitive psychology is filled with examples of how theories of cognitive architecture can be informed by neuropsychological dissociations. This brief review shows that developmental dissociations, which occur when different effects appear diachronically in cognitive development, are also a valuable source of theoretical insights for cognitive psychology. However, similar to neuropsychological dissociations, developmental dissociations should also be treated cautiously, due to various methodological caveats (e.g. resource artefacts) that need to be taken into account when used to make inferences on normal cognitive processes. Even in the presence of these possible confounds, developmental dissociations may inspire new theories that should then be corroborated with additional, converging evidence. In one of the studies discussed in the review, for instance, it was suggested that different temporal preparation effects might depend on different cognitive systems, given that they followed different ontogenetic trajectories. This working hypothesis, which was initially inspired by a developmental dissociation, was then substantiated by means of various dissociative approaches in healthy adults and patients. Conclusion Dissociations in developmental trajectories may have a powerful heuristic value in generating novel testable hypotheses and providing information about cognitive functioning, not only in developmental stages but also in adulthood.