How do we make sense of people? Human behaviour is complex, so that understanding ourselves and others calls for both objective and subjective viewpoints, as well as a flexible appreciation of human development over time. Dr Sula Wolff believes that knowledge about personality development is essential in three important domains: in the appraisal of deviant behaviour at all ages; in the development of social policy for children; and in therapeutic interventions for children and their families.

In this book, originally published in 1989, Dr Wolff gives a comprehensive account of the...

First published in 1986, this authoritative book contains a selection of original, research based, reports of studies conducted in Australia and New Zealand in the field of Child Development. The topics have been arranged into four major sections – cognitive issues in development, language and reading development, perpetual motor development and social aspects of development. Both pure and applied research issues are presented, and the chapters cover child development from infancy to adolescence.

The book’s special strength lies in the diversity of topics tackled and the range...

Originally published in 1993, the starting place for this book is the notion, current in the literature for around 30 years at that time, that children could not learn their native language without substantial innate knowledge of its grammatical structure. It is argued that the notion is as problematic for contemporary theories of development as it was for theories of the past. Accepting this, the book attempts an in-depth study of the notions credibility.

Central to the book’s argument is the conclusion that the innateness hypothesis runs into two major problems. Firstly, its...

Originally published in 1990, this book looks at the history of developmental psychology in order to locate and evaluate the role played by biology in its most influential formulations.

First Charles Darwin’s own writings on child development are examined. It is shown that Darwin endorsed such ideas as the ‘recapitulation’ of evolutionary ancestry in the developing child, even though this is inconsistent with his natural selection theory. The first great developmentalists – Hall, Baldwin, Freud – adopted and applied these non-Darwinian evolutionist ideas. The next...

Originally published in 1978, contemporary theory and research into childhood social development had demonstrated the necessity to re-appraise the notion that socialization is merely a process of shaping the behaviour of the child to fit the mores of society. It was now evident that, from the beginnings of post-partum life, the human infant is an active participant in social encounters, modifying the behaviour of others as well as being influenced by them. Hence, social development must be construed as an interactive process, to which the young organism makes his own dynamic contribution....

Originally published in 1993, this monograph addresses a central problem in Piaget’s work, which is the temporal construction of necessary knowledge. The main argument is that both normative and empirical issues are relevant to a minimally adequate account of the development of modal understanding. This central argument embodies three main claims. One claim is philosophical. Although the concepts of knowledge and necessity are problematic, there is sufficient agreement about their core elements due to the fundamental difference between truth-value and modality. Any account of human...

Originally published in 1991, this monograph presents pioneering work on the growth and development of triplets, quadruplets and quintuplets. Twelve years were spent researching the effects of multiple caregiving, low birthweight and intra-uterine conditions on the personality development of multiple birth children. Child development specialists, psychologists and clinical psychologists will find this work applies not only to multiple birth children, but also to those born with low birthweights or other high-risk complications.

John and Elizabeth Newson were well known for their studies of child rearing, which have combined a rigorous research methodology with sympathetic insights into family life and a lively approach to scientific reporting. ‘Path-breaking’, ‘brilliant’, ‘seminal’, ‘outstanding’, ‘fascinating’, ‘enthralling’ and ‘enchanting’ are some of the adjectives used by critics to describe their previous books.

They now turn their attention to toys, the ‘pegs on which children hang their play’, a study for which they are uniquely qualified. Not only had they long...

Originally published in 1986, in this compendium of recent research on children’s play, acknowledged experts review the latest methodologies and ideas, examine salient problems, and reveal the application of current knowledge in several areas of professional practice at the time. Exciting new results embracing a wide area of investigation – the development and measurement of play in young children, the training of symbolic play, play and learning with computers, language play, play and handicapped children, play therapy, and outdoor play – will still be of considerable interest to...

Originally published in 1924, this sixth edition published in 1930 is thoroughly revised and updated to take account of the important advances in the field of child psychology at the time. In this new edition the personal standpoint is emphasized, while at the same time other psychological theories such as mental psychology, form psychology, psychoanalysis and individual psychology have been exhaustively treated, criticized and discussed in contradistinction to the theory of personality. Much fuller treatment has been given to the experimental examination of young children for purposes of...