The notion of death as a knowledge and research object in developmental psychology

Abstract

In the present work we analyse the theoretical attention that human sciences have given to prac-tices regarding death in the search for a definition of what is specifically human. We revise fun-damental lines of questioning and perspectives resultant of considering death as a cognitive object. Following this line, we present the general characteristics of several studies in the field of developmental psychology, amongst which we include our own theoretical affiliation regarding the child’s comprehension of death. This perspective is developed within the theoretical frame-work of Piagetian genetic psychology coordinated with Moscovici’s social representations theo-ry, in an attempt to overcome classic dichotomies and to avoid disregarding the specificity of the production of ideas in particular sociocultural contexts.