Three seductive ideas are considered, labeled by Kagan as such for their presentation as intuitively true. The first idea is that psychological processes named by terms as intelligence, consciousness, etc, can be generalized for a variety of situations. The second seductive idea is that of infant determinism, the notion that the first experiences are a determinant influence on the future development of the children. The third one is the pleasure principle, the notion that the human behavior is fundamentally oriented by the search of pleasure. Based on research data from a diversity of sciences, Kagan shows the fallaciousness of such ideas and gives four constructive suggestions for those who work in the social and behavioral sciences areas.
Fallacious ideas; Inappropriate Generalization; Infant determinism; Pleasure principle