If personal experience is the basic raw material for psychology, why do all the major psychologies of the past century find reason to marginalize or deny it? Benjamin Bradley presents a thought-provoking study which explores the way our everyday experience of life has been marginalized within the scientific discipline of psychology. Arguing that an experience-based approach to psychology should complement the more traditional scientific approach, Bradley takes a bold initial step towards reclaiming the Enlightenments vision for the discipline.

An introductory text on child psychology discussing different theoretical perspectives by analyzing major figures' work on the mental life of babies. It looks at Darwin, Freud, Piaget, Skinner, Chomsky, Bowlby and others, thus appraising the origins and development of the discipline. Bradley's critical analysis concludes that child psychology should be thought of less as a branch of natural science than as an intrinsically interpretative discipline.