Studies in Developmental Psychology – serie

How are the experiences of childhood incorporated into the structures of the developing brain, and how do these changes in the brain influence behaviour? This is one of the many questions motivating research in the relatively new field of developmental cognitive neuroscience. This book provides an extensive overview of the methods used to study such questions, and a thorough investigation into the emerging interface between neurobiological and psychological perspectives in the study of typical and atypical cognitive behaviour. The Cognitive Neuroscience of Development is a collection of essays written by international experts in the field. It covers not only traditional topics such as language, attention and memory development, but also includes individual chapters covering the theories of neurocognitive development and methods of studying brain activity in young infants and children. There are additional chapters on hormonal influences on brain and behavioural development, gender differences in the brain, and genetic disorders.This exceptional series of contributions surveys the study of both cognitive and neural development. The book takes into account brain architecture as well as the behavioural context of development, thus it succeeds in integrating the multiple methods and domains of research that have previously been studied in a more fragmented way. It will be invaluable to upper level students as well as researchers and teachers in Psychology, Neuroscience, Cognitive Science, Paediatrics and related fields.

Infancy is a time of rapid growth, when brain plasticity is at a maximum. Event-related potentials (ERPs) are one of the few methods that can easily and safely be used to study this process, and have led to exciting discoveries about human brain functioning and the neural basis of cognition. Over recent years, there has been a massive rise in the level of interest in ERPs and this book considers the advantages which they offer to researchers and clinicians. In particular, it looks at the benefits of this form of neuroimaging as a non-invasive tool for detecting impairments in brain and cognitive development very early in life. The potential use of ERPs for clinical settings is also explored in detail. The contributions are all from eminent researchers in the field and represent the latest thought on the topic.Infant EEG and Event-Related Potentials explains the basics of event-related potentials for those less familiar with the procedures and terminology, as well as offering a valuable handbook of the latest theories and empirical findings for those working in the field. This will be a valuable source for those interested in developmental psychology and neuropsychology, and for clinicians interested in application of ERPs.

The Development of Social Cognition presents a lively, up-to-date examination of both the classical issues and contemporary understanding of theory and research in social cognitive development. The initial chapters highlight one of the central, theoretical tensions in the field, which is whether the development of understanding people is fundamentally different from understanding things. Subsequent chapters are devoted to development across specific areas of social cognition from infancy through to adolescence. The text ends with a comprehensive examination of the development of moral aspects of social cognition.

Current research into the psychology of children's mathematics is extremely diverse. The present volume reflects this diversity; it is unique in its breadth, bringing together accounts of cutting-edge research from widely differing, sometimes opposing viewpoints. The reader with a grounding in developmental psychology but no knowledge of mathematical development will enjoy a wide ranging and challenging summary of current trends. Those already familiar with some of the work may take the opportunity to broaden their knowledge and to evaluate new methodologies and the insights they offer.The book is an invitation to explore a complex set of phenomena for which no unitary explanation can be offered. It aims to show that apparently disparate research perspectives may be complementary to each other; and to suggest that progress towards a comprehensive account of mathematical skills may require a broad-based understanding of research from more than one viewpoint.

Research in the field of human social development is moving at an astonishing pace. Within psychology, children's social behaviour has attracted interest from cognitive, social, clinical, and educational psychologists employing a wide variety of techniques that range from conversational analysis to experimental designs. Contributions have also come from beyond the domain of traditional psychology such as evolutionary theorists, behaviour geneticists, cultural anthropologists, and ethologists. This book aims to bring the reader to the cutting edge of this work by including original contributions from those in the very forefront of their discipline. Each contributor has spent years working in their specialist area and the authors have been given the freedom to argue for very different positions on the origins and sequence of children's social competence. The Social Child brings together controversial and sometimes conflicting positions on issues of central importance to society. It considers the likely impact of rising divorce rates and single parenting, how media images affect children's understanding and behaviour, how genes inform development, the role parents have, whether changing sex roles have had an impact on children's social interactions, and the sources from which children acquire behaviour. This book will be relevant to those interested in children's behaviour both professionally (social workers, teachers, educational psychologists, therapists, youth workers) and academically. It can also be used as a textbook for second and third year undergraduates and by postgraduates.

This book presents a general overview of our current knowledge of language development in children. All the principal strands of language development are covered, including phonological, lexical, syntactic and pragmatic development; bilingualism; precursors to language development in infancy; and the language development of children with developmental disabilities, including children with specific language impairment. Written by leading international authorities, each chapter summarises clearly and lucidly our current state of knowledge, and carefully explains and evaluates the theories which have been proposed to account for children's development in that area.

To make sense of the world, infants have to perceive it, and research into the development of sensory and perceptual abilities is one of the most exciting and important areas of infancy research. This book aims both to reflect current knowledge of perceptual development and to point to some of many questions that remain unanswered.Each of the major sections is prefaced by introductory comments, making the book equally useful for advanced undergraduates, postgraduates, researchers, and professionals who are interested in early perceptual development and in infancy in general.

How are the experiences of childhood incorporated into the structures of the developing brain, and how do these changes in the brain influence behaviour? This is one of the many questions motivating research in the relatively new field of developmental cognitive neuroscience. This book provides an extensive overview of the methods used to study such questions, and a thorough investigation into the emerging interface between neurobiological and psychological perspectives in the study of typical and atypical cognitive behaviour. The Cognitive Neuroscience of Development is a collection of essays written by international experts in the field. It covers not only traditional topics such as language, attention and memory development, but also includes individual chapters covering the theories of neurocognitive development and methods of studying brain activity in young infants and children. There are additional chapters on hormonal influences on brain and behavioural development, gender differences in the brain, and genetic disorders.This exceptional series of contributions surveys the study of both cognitive and neural development. The book takes into account brain architecture as well as the behavioural context of development, thus it succeeds in integrating the multiple methods and domains of research that have previously been studied in a more fragmented way. It will be invaluable to upper level students as well as researchers and teachers in Psychology, Neuroscience, Cognitive Science, Paediatrics and related fields.

Connectionist Models of Development is an edited collection of essays on the current work concerning connectionist or neural network models of human development. The brain comprises millions of nerve cells that share myriad connections, and this book looks at how human development in these systems is typically characterised as adaptive changes to the strengths of these connections. The traditional accounts of connectionist learning, based on adaptive changes to weighted connections, are explored alongside the dynamic accounts in which networks generate their own structures as learning proceeds.Unlike most connectionist accounts of psychological processes which deal with the fully-mature system, this text brings to the fore a discussion of developmental processes. To investigate human cognitive and perceptual development, connectionist models of learning and representation are adopted alongside various aspects of language and knowledge acquisition. There are sections on artificial intelligence and how computer programs have been designed to mimic the development processes, as well as chapters which describe what is currently known about how real brains develop.This book is a much-needed addition to the existing literature on connectionist development as it includes up-to-date examples of research on current controversies in the field as well as new features such as genetic connectionism and biological theories of the brain. It will be invaluable to academic researchers, post-graduates and undergraduates in developmental psychology and those researching connectionist/neural networks as well as those in related fields such as psycholinguistics.

A state-of-the-art review of the research in this area, this collection covers children's understanding of family, school, economics, race, politics and gender roles. Recent changes and trends in research are summarised. This is explained in terms of a progression from the Piagetian stages model of development to the current emphasis on socially-mediated sources of information, socio-cultural context and children's own naiive theories about societal phenomena. Bringing together some of the most prominent and active researchers in this field this volume presents an advanced overview of developments in this under-represented area of social psychology.