Twenty Studies That Revolutionized Child Psychology
Wallace E. Dixon, Jr., Ph.D., East Tennessee State University

ISBN-10: 0130415723
ISBN-13: 9780130415721

Publisher: Prentice Hall
Copyright: 2003
Format: Paper; 296 pp
Published: 10/14/2002

Suggested retail price: $52.40
Buy from myPearsonStore



For undergraduate courses in Child Development/Psychology, Life Span Development, Child and Family Studies, and Human Growth and Development.

This text gives students a systematic look at the process of child psychology research by examining the twenty most revolutionary scientific investigations in the field over the course of the last fifty years. The individual chapters are dedicated to each revolutionary study.

  • Detailed description of each of the 20 individual studies—Includes the researcher's reasons for conducting the study, the methods employed, results obtained, and conclusions drawn by the researcher.

    • Provides students with an understanding of the ingenious methodological innovations of researchers, and of the revolutionizing impacts that such research has had on the development of the field.

  • Biographical features relevant to researchers' efforts—Included to the extent possible in each study/chapter, along with information about the features of the investigation that made it revolutionary for the discipline as a whole.

    • Absorbs students' interest into the inner workings of science, child psychology, and to the human-ness of the researchers themselves.

  • Unique criteria for including each of the studies —Used empirical research obtained from a random sampling of teachers, scholars, and journal editors in the field.

    • Eliminates the author's own biases and experiences, and allows the field of child psychology to speak for itself.

  • Student-friendly language.

    • Invites students to become a part of the process of learning, and speaks torather than at them.



1. Introduction.

I. SEVEN STUDIES THAT REVOLUTIONIZED COGNITIVE AND LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT.

2. From mollusks to Rugrats: Biological Principles and Psychological Ideas.

3. When Thinking Begins.

Piaget, J. (1952). The origins of intelligence in children. New York: International Universities Press.

4. A Marxist Revolution in Psychology.

Vygotsky, L.S. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

5. The Eyes Have It.

Fantz, R. L. (1961). The origin of form perception. Scientific American, 204, 66-72.

6. The Drawbridge Studies.

Baillageon, R. (1987). Object permanence in 3.5- and 4.5-month-old infants. Developmental Psychology, 23, 655-664.

7. “Do You Know What I Know?”

Premack, D., & Woodruff, G. (1978). Does the chimpanzee have a theory of mind? The Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 1, 515-526.

8. Language Development and the Big Bang Theory.

Chomsky, N. (1957). Syntactic structures. The Hague: Mouton.

9. Adam and Eve and the Garden of Eden.

Brown, R. (1973). A first language: The early stages. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

II. SIX STUDIES THAT REVOLUTIONIZED SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND PARENTING.

10. She Loves Me, But She Loves Me Not.

Harlow, H., & Harlow, M. (1965). The affectional systems. In A. Schrier, H. Harlow, & F. Stollnitz (Eds.), Behavior of non-human primates. New York: Academic Press.

11. The Invisible Bungee Cord.

Bowlby, J. (1969). Attachment and loss, Vol. 1. New York: Basic Books.

12. What a Strange Situation.

Ainsworth, M.D.S., Blehar, M.C., Waters, E., & Wall, S. (1978). Patterns of attachment. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

13. “This Is Gonna Hurt You a lot More Than It's Gonna hurt Me.”

Baumrind, D. (1971). Current patterns of parental authority. Developmental psychology Monographs, 4 (1, part 2).

14. Monkey See, Monkey Do.

Bandura, A., Ross, D., & Ross, S. (1961). Transmission of aggression through imitation of aggressive models. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 63, 375-382.

15. The Ethic of Care: It's a Woman Thing.

Gilligan, C. (1982). In a different voice: Psychological theory and women's development. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

III. THREE STUDIES THAT REVOLUTIONIZED CLINICAL CHILD PSYCHOLOGY.

16. “If You Were Born first, I Would've Stopped.”

Thomas, A., Chess, S., & Birch, H.G. (1968). Temperament and behavior disorders in childhood. New York: New York University Press.

17. Armadillos Aren't the Only Mammals That Grow Armor.

Werner, E.E., & Smith, R.S. (2001). Journey from childhood to midlife: Risk, resilience, and recovery. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.

18. Keep the Baby and the Bathwater.

Sameroff, A.J., & Chandler, M.J. (1975). Reproductive risk and the continuum of caretaker causality. In F.D. Horowitz (Ed.), Review of child development research (Vol. 4). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

IV. FOUR STUDIES THAT REVOLUTIONIZED HOW WE DO AND THINK ABOUT CHILD PSYCHOLOGY.

19. Choreographing the Nature-Nurture Dance.

Anastasi, A. (1958). Heredity, environment, and the question “How?” Psychological Review, 89, 976—984.

20. What Comes Around Goes Around.

Bell, R.Q. (1968). A reinterpretation of the direction of effect in studies of socialization. Psychological Review, 75, 81-95.

21. Development Lessons from Kitten Brains.

Hubel, D.H., & Wiesel, T.N. (1965). Receptive fields of cells in striate cortex of very young, visually inexperienced kittens. Journal of Neurophysiology, 26, 944-1002.

22. Governments, Grade Schools, and Grocery Stores: Multiple Levels of Influence.

Bronfenbrenner, U. (1977). Toward an experimental ecology of human development. American Psychologist, 32, 513-531.

For Child Development


For Early Childhood Development


For Child Development (Chronological Approach)


For Child Development (Topical Approach)


For Early Childhood Development


For Lifespan Development


Pearson Higher Education offers special pricing when you choose to package your text with other student resources. If you're interested in creating a cost-saving package for your students, contact your Pearson Higher Education representative for pricing and ordering information.

Pearson Higher Education offers special pricing when you choose to package your text with other student resources. If you're interested in creating a cost-saving package for your students, browse our available packages below, or contact your Pearson Higher Education representative to create your own package.



Copyright ©2008 Pearson Education. All rights reserved. Legal Notice | Privacy Policy | Permissions