Johanna Turner – författare

Originally published in 1977, Psychology for the Classroom is offered as an aid to people who are learning themselves and helping other people to learn: that is, to parents, students and particularly to teachers. The activity of teaching, to be successful, requires the teacher to understand the behaviour of the learner as fully as possible. Some of the insights into human behaviour gained by psychologists may prove helpful to the teacher in complementing his or her experience and intuitive understanding, and it is with this in mind that the topics covered in this book have been selected.Section one deals with cognitive aspects, an understanding of which his essential since cognitive processes are the means by which individuals are able to make sense of their environment. Section two considers the social situation in which knowledge and understanding develop, i.e. the way in which social interaction affects learning. Section three focuses on the individual, stressing that academic achievement depends not only on hard work but is intimately related to an individual’s personal development and personality. The book will be valuable to psychology students, student teachers and teachers on in-service courses, for its coverage of relevant psychological research and the description of pertinent experiments and studies of the time. Its originality lies in the way in which it communicates the importance of teachers using psychology as a basis for forming hypotheses which they can test for themselves – not necessarily as researchers, but in a mood of personal exploration.

Originally published in 1977, Psychology for the Classroom is offered as an aid to people who are learning themselves and helping other people to learn: that is, to parents, students and particularly to teachers. The activity of teaching, to be successful, requires the teacher to understand the behaviour of the learner as fully as possible. Some of the insights into human behaviour gained by psychologists may prove helpful to the teacher in complementing his or her experience and intuitive understanding, and it is with this in mind that the topics covered in this book have been selected.Section one deals with cognitive aspects, an understanding of which his essential since cognitive processes are the means by which individuals are able to make sense of their environment. Section two considers the social situation in which knowledge and understanding develop, i.e. the way in which social interaction affects learning. Section three focuses on the individual, stressing that academic achievement depends not only on hard work but is intimately related to an individual’s personal development and personality. The book will be valuable to psychology students, student teachers and teachers on in-service courses, for its coverage of relevant psychological research and the description of pertinent experiments and studies of the time. Its originality lies in the way in which it communicates the importance of teachers using psychology as a basis for forming hypotheses which they can test for themselves – not necessarily as researchers, but in a mood of personal exploration.

Children think in a different way to adults. They also think differently at different ages. This book, originally published in 1984, studies the growth of those processes by means of which thinking evolves from infancy through childhood and adolescence into adulthood. It covers perception, memory, language and, above all, the development of mental ‘programmes’, or strategies, through which people structure and hence comprehend the information coming to them from their environment.The study of cognitive development has obvious educational implications. Development in the pre-school period, the appropriateness of schooling for levels of cognitive competence, and the significance of ageing are just some of the issues considered.

Children think in a different way to adults. They also think differently at different ages. This book, originally published in 1984, studies the growth of those processes by means of which thinking evolves from infancy through childhood and adolescence into adulthood. It covers perception, memory, language and, above all, the development of mental ‘programmes’, or strategies, through which people structure and hence comprehend the information coming to them from their environment.The study of cognitive development has obvious educational implications. Development in the pre-school period, the appropriateness of schooling for levels of cognitive competence, and the significance of ageing are just some of the issues considered.

Originally published in 1980, this title considers the relationship between feeling able to cope and being able to learn – that is, the interdependence of affect and cognition in children under five. It argues that in order to make full use of his cognitive capacities the child must first develop the belief that he is able to cope and be effective.When the child enters school at the age of five his behaviour will reflect the influence of various important developmental factors. It is only by understanding the nature of the interactions of these influences that one can sympathetically appreciate and, if necessary, modify the child’s perception of the situation with which he is faced. The argument presented follows the discrete strands of development which form the plait of individual differential perception and draws upon the case of work of clinicians using psychoanalytic concepts, experimental investigations of infants and children, naturalistic observations and longitudinal studies, since it is believed that these contemporary, yet distinct, approaches draw attention to different aspects of the multifaceted human child. As such the book was both a useful survey of this important complex field of study at the time and is still a stimulating contribution to the debate.

Originally published in 1980, this title considers the relationship between feeling able to cope and being able to learn – that is, the interdependence of affect and cognition in children under five. It argues that in order to make full use of his cognitive capacities the child must first develop the belief that he is able to cope and be effective.When the child enters school at the age of five his behaviour will reflect the influence of various important developmental factors. It is only by understanding the nature of the interactions of these influences that one can sympathetically appreciate and, if necessary, modify the child’s perception of the situation with which he is faced. The argument presented follows the discrete strands of development which form the plait of individual differential perception and draws upon the case of work of clinicians using psychoanalytic concepts, experimental investigations of infants and children, naturalistic observations and longitudinal studies, since it is believed that these contemporary, yet distinct, approaches draw attention to different aspects of the multifaceted human child. As such the book was both a useful survey of this important complex field of study at the time and is still a stimulating contribution to the debate.