Henry Markovits – författare

The question of exactly what sex differences exist and whether they have a biological foundation has been one of our culture's favorite enduring discussions. It should. After a baby is born, a parent's first concern is for its physical health. The next concern is its sex. Only in the most modern societies does sex not virtually guarantee the type of future life a new human being will have. Even in modern societies, one's sex usually plays a large role in the path a life follows. Scientists have published thousands of papers on the subject, with the general conclusion being that men and women are mostly the same, whatever differences exist have been socialized, and what differences exist have to do with women bearing children and men being physically stronger. In Warriors and Worriers, psychologist Joyce Benenson presents a new theory of sex differences, based on thirty years of research with young children and primates around the world. Her innovative theory focuses on how men and women stay alive. Benenson draws on a fascinating array of studies and stories that explore the ways boys and men deter their enemies, while girls and women find assistants to aid them in coping with vulnerable children and elders. This produces two social worlds for each sex which sets humans apart from most other primate species. Human males form cooperative groups that compete against out-groups, while human females exclude other females in their quest to find mates, female family members to invest in their children, and keep their own hearts ticking. In the process, Benenson turns upside down the familiar wisdom that women are more sociable than men and that men are more competitive than women.

The study of deductive reasoning is one of the key areas in cognitive psychology. Much of the initial impetus for studies in this field came from a developmental perspective, in particular as a consequence of Piaget's theory of formal operations. Subsequent research that examined some of the predictions of this theory has led to what appear to be quite contradictory conclusions. On the one hand, reasoning is held to be a very precociously acquired, if not innate, competence, such that very young children can reason 'logically'. On the other hand, reasoning in adults has been found to be so convincingly 'illogical' that the very notion of logical competence, even in educated adults has been put into question. Clearly, these two conclusions cannot both be true, and their continuing existence reflects the increasing fragmentation of studies of children and of adults. In this context, developmental studies appear to be critical to an integrative approach to reasoning that considers both children and adults within a single theoretical and empirical perspective. This issue presents some of the more important developmental perspectives on the development of reasoning.

The study of deductive reasoning is one of the key areas in cognitive psychology. Much of the initial impetus for studies in this field came from a developmental perspective, in particular as a consequence of Piaget's theory of formal operations. Subsequent research that examined some of the predictions of this theory has led to what appear to be quite contradictory conclusions. On the one hand, reasoning is held to be a very precociously acquired, if not innate, competence, such that very young children can reason 'logically'. On the other hand, reasoning in adults has been found to be so convincingly 'illogical' that the very notion of logical competence, even in educated adults has been put into question. Clearly, these two conclusions cannot both be true, and their continuing existence reflects the increasing fragmentation of studies of children and of adults. In this context, developmental studies appear to be critical to an integrative approach to reasoning that considers both children and adults within a single theoretical and empirical perspective. This issue presents some of the more important developmental perspectives on the development of reasoning.

Logical thinking is a critically important cognitive skill. It is not just essential for mathematical and scientific understanding, it is also of prime importance when trying to navigate our complex and increasingly sophisticated world. Written by world class researchers in the field, The Developmental Psychology of Reasoning and Decision-Making describes the ways that children learn to reason, and how reasoning can be used to overcome the influence of beliefs and intuitions. The chapters in this edited collection focus on the new, revolutionary paradigm in reasoning and cover the recent research on the development of reasoning in two important areas: Cognitive abilities required to reason well and how these abilities develop in children and adolescents. Recent empirical data showing the effect intuition and prior belief have on reasoning, even when the outcome is inappropriate. Different theoretical and empirical perspectives from recent Piagetian theory, mental models and gist processing are examined, along with empirical results looking at specific aspects of reasoning in children. The key theme of the book is to better understand how reasoning develops not only through examining ‘logical’ reasoning, but also the nature of the interactions between people’s intuitions and their reasoning abilities. The Developmental Psychology of Reasoning and Decision-Making provides an overview of the main theories and key empirical results related to the development of reasoning and should be of particular interest to students and researchers in developmental psychology and education, along with those in cognitive psychology.