Michael G. Tramontana - Böcker

However, the primary focus of 19th and early 20th century psychology was on "general psychology," and only a small number of psychologists ventured into what then was called "differential psychology" (the psychology of individual dif­ ferences) including a few who became attached to neurological research and rehabilitation units after World War I.

There has been an explosion of interest in child neuropsychology in recent years. Advances in Child Neuropsychology, a multi-volume book series, is intended to help highlight, summarize, and critically evaluate important developments in this rapidly growing field. Each volume consists of material pertinent to advanced students and professionals in neuropsychology and related disciplines - researchers and clinicians alike. The topics and contributing authors are selected with the input of a diversified group of editorial advisors to help assure a balanced representation of innovations and integrative work truly indicative of advances in child neuropsychology. Like the preceding two volumes, the contents of Volume 3 span the areas of developmental neuropsychology, abnormal neuropsychology, assessment and treatment.Topics include additional findings pertaining to electrophysiological responses obtained during infancy and their relation to later language development; the neurotoxic effects of lead; advances in brain imaging and in both qualitative and quantitative approaches to neuropsychological assessment; and the application of hemispheric stimulation techniques in dyslexic children.

In the foreword to Volume 1 of this series, Byron Rourke noted that the field of child neuropsychology is still young. He wrote: "It has no obvious birthdate. Hence, we cannot determine its age with the type of chrono­ metric precision for which our scientific hearts may yearn . . . . Be that as it may, activity in the field has been growing steadily, if not by leaps and bounds. Although there is nowhere near the intensity of in­ vestigation of children from a neuropsychological standpoint as there is of adults, there have been notable systematic investigations of considerable interest. Some of the more important of these are presented in the current volume. " I am happy to say that the contents of Volume 2 likewise provide new insights across many important domains of developmental neuro­ psychology. As the editors note, this book consists of six chapters divided into four general areas, including developmental neuropsychology (one chapter), abnormal neuropsychology (three chapters), assessment (one chapter), and treatment (one chapter). The first chapter is addressed to attention, response inhibition, and activity level in children. In this chapter, Jeffrey M. Halperin, Kathleen E. McKay, Kristin Matier, and Vanshdeep Sharma provide a lucid and articulate review of research on this topic. The authors correctly note by that attention, response inhibition, and activity level are mediated neurocircuits throughout the brain that interact with and modulate vir­ tually all higher cognitive information-processing domains.

In this, the third volume of Advances in Child Neuropsychology, the editors have once again enlisted a broad range of contributors, each of whom has written a chapter that brings us to the current level of knowl­ edge in their respective area. The topics range from the relationship between electrophysiological responses in infants and later language development to advances in neuropsychological constructs. Although we still do not know enough about brain-behavior relationships in the normally developing brain, let alone in the atypical brain, a good deal of innovative, exciting, and very meaningful research is herein presented that furthers our understanding of neurodevelopmental issues. The cur­ rent volume reflects some of the results of an active period of research in child neuropsychology. It serves to further our knowledge of the field in all of its diversity and, perhaps, to provide the spark of interest or sudden "aha!" to the reader that will lead to new insights and productive research endeavors. The first chapter, contributed by Molfese, is perhaps somewhat tech­ nical in its presentation for the electrophysiologically uninitiated. How­ ever, its results and discussion sections follow up findings related to some of the data presented in Volume 1. The earlier work, which suggested that electrophysiological responses can be used to predict long-term developmental outcomes, is supported in the present report on the relationship between auditory evoked responses in infancy and later levels of language development.

The field of child neuropsychology is still young. It has no obvious birth­ date. Hence, we cannot determine its age with the type of chronometric precision for which our scientific hearts may yearn. Nevertheless, one landmark to which we might point in this connection is that the first systematic textbook to appear in this area (i. e. , Rourke, Bakker, Fisk, & Strang, 1983) is not yet 10 years old. Be that as it may, activity in the field has been growing steadily, if not by leaps and bounds. Although there is nowhere near the intensity of investigation of children from a neuro­ psychological standpoint as there is of adults, there have been notable systematic investigations of considerable interest. Some of the more im­ portant of these are presented in the current volume. Intended to provide authoritative reviews of important substantive areas of child neuropsychology, this series begins with a volume that contains just that: reviews of areas as diverse as auditory evoked re­ sponses in newborns and the behavioral effects of head trauma in children. Methodological issues, also deemed important by the Editors, are dis­ cussed in most of the chapters contained herein. Furthermore, the ex­ emplary lines of programmatic research or application in the field that are deemed to fall within the purview of this series are also represented in this volume.