Book excerpt: The Development of Social Cognition presents a lively, up-to-date examination of both the classical issues and contemporary understanding of theory and research in social cognitive development. The initial chapters highlight one of the central, theoretical tensions in the field, which is whether the development of understanding people is fundamentally different from understanding things. Subsequent chapters are devoted to development across specific areas of social cognition from infancy through to adolescence. The text ends with a comprehensive examination of the development of moral aspects of social cognition.