Reviews two books by L. S. Vygotsky and A. R. Luria: (1) "Studies on the History of Behavior: Ape, Primitive, and Child"; and (2) "Ape, Primitive Man and Child: Essays in the History of Behavior." Both books are based on a book published in 1930 that examined the phylogenetic, historical, and ontogenetic development of human…

Reviews "Rethinking Innateness: A Connectionist Perspective on Development" by Elman and others (1996). Maintains that the authors argue forcefully that the nature-nurture conflict is a false dichotomy and that they present convincing existence on the possibility of qualitative change. Argues that the authors do not succeed in proposing…

Asserts that this text by Matthews is a remedy to the scant attention paid to philosophical questioning by children. Describes the book's attempt to set children's philosophical questions against a re-examination of children's art and literature, legal issues regarding children's autonomy, and psychological models of the child's cognitive and…

Reviews "The Epigenesis of Mind: Essays on Biology and Cognition" (S. Carey and R. Gelman, editors), a collection of essays that present a hard-scientific vision of cognitive development. Examines the arguments this work articulates and then determines the place it occupies in the analysis of the state of developmental psychology as presented in…

Reviews four books: (1) "A Dynamic Systems Approach to Development: Applications" (Linda B. Smith and Esther Thelen, Eds.); (2) "The Psychology of Gender" (Anne E. Beall and Robert J. Sternberg, Eds.); (3) "Children's Understanding: The Development of Mental Models" (Graeme S. Halford); and (4) "Adolescent Storm…

Claims that Miller's book is admirably clear and comprehensive on current thinking in early literacy, noting Miller's refutation of the concept of reading readiness. Suggests the book would be particularly useful for students in initial teacher training courses, not just those intending to work with young children. Questions preoccupation with…

Reviews "Levels of Cognitive Development," which presents a theory of cognitive development integrating discrimination- learning research with understanding of higher cognitive processes. Argues that strengths include its presentation of systematic research and providing continuity between past and present models. Weaknesses include…

Reviews six books on child cognitive and emotional development. The books address the following topics: the assessment of cognitive competence; children's theories of mind; early grammatical development; the psychological consequences of parental belief systems for children; the role of culture in human development; and perspectives from…

This book assembles a wide range of research on children's language development, interprets it with analyses of how bilingualism affects that development, and, above all, breaks the myths surrounding bilingualism and bilingual education. The urgency about introducing language minority children to English immediately in schools, and about…

Reviews the following books: "Child Care in Context" (Lamb et al., Eds.); "Making Friends in School: Promoting Relationships in Early Childhood" (Ramsay); "The Epigenesis of Mind: Essays on Biology and Cognition" (Carey and Gelman, Eds.); "Moral Maturity: Measuring the Development of Sociomoral Reflection"…

Behavior analyst teaching child development courses would do well to look into this book as the main text for the course. It represents the most comprehensive attempt to date to try and integrate the developmental literature with the study of basic mechanisms of learning. The book is written in a clear and concise manner that can be understood by…

Reviews books comprised of papers or chapters written by various authors. The books are (1) "Directors of Development: Influences on the Development of Children's Thinking"; (2) "Best Methods for the Analysis of Change: Recent Advances, Unanswered Questions"; (3) "Family Transitions"; (4) "Parent-Child Relations…