Describes the ideas proposed by James Mark Baldwin which anticipated much of Jean Piaget's work. The goals, genetic approach, and epistemological assumptions underlying Piaget's inquiry into cognitive development found explicit statement in Baldwin's work. Discusses Baldwin's current importance for psychology. (Author/CB)

Recounts the career of William L. Stern. Stern developed a personalistic psychology emphasizing the individual's role and the importance of context in development. Stern's contributions to developmental psychology concerned: (1) the tension between activity and reactivity in the developing individual; (2) the exchange between a person and the…

Reviews the major contributions of Alfred Binet. Explains why the fame of the Binet-Simon Intelligence Scale was so long lasting whereas that of his other contributions was so fleeting. Discusses implications of his contributions for current efforts to formulate unified theories of cognition and cognitive development. (Author/GLR)

Describes Jean Piaget's transformation of society's conception of childhood thought. Emphasizes the enduring contribution to developmental psychology of Piaget's constructivism, his description of developmental mechanisms, his cognitivism, his explication of structural and functional analysis, and his addressing of epistemological issues and…

Discusses John Dewey's views on the meaning and nature of a psychology of human development. Focuses on his early commitment to idealistic philosophy, discovery of social psychology, and consummate interest in education. Dewey proposed that psychology could promote human development and social progress by elucidating mechanisms for realizing…

Considers contributions of Sigmund Freud and Rene Spitz to developmental psychology. Freud's contributions include his observations about play, perspectives on developmental processes, and ideas about unconscious mental activity. Spitz's contributions include his assessments of infants, perspectives on developmental processes, and his concept of…

Evaluates John B. Watson's contributions to developmental psychology. Watson's insistence on objective methodology in psychology retains its influence, but his extreme environmentalism has been rejected. His concern with the principles of learning is reflected in the work of Hull and Skinner. (BC)

Examines the impact of Arnold L. Gesell on developmental psychology. Gesell is best remembered for his developmental norms, acquired from observations of infants and children. Gesell's ideas about maturation have lost favor, but his belief in infants' native abilities is still a dominant theme in theories. (BC)

Describes the interdisciplinary research of Myrtle B. McGraw; examines the controversy about McGraw's concept of critical period; and assesses her impact on current research. McGraw contended that the overlapping phases involved in neuromuscular integration demonstrate that learning and maturation interact during development. (BC)

Darwin's weak influence on developmental psychology is traced. It is explained by (1) developmentalists' commitment to an ideology of meliorism; (2) conceptual issues relating to ontogeny and phylogeny; and (3) methodological problems. Suggests that developmentalists use evolutionary theory as a heuristic for structuring new research. (BC)

James Baldwin's ideas, such as that of a genetic science, and their influence on later theorists such as Piaget, Vygotsky, and Kohlberg, are described. The further Baldwin moved from the study of infancy, the more speculative and the less empirically verifiable became his ideas. (BC)

As an undergraduate at Williams College, G. Stanley Hall learned a theistic developmental psychology from Mark Hopkins. As president of Clark University, Hall initiated a program of questionnaires that contributed to a scientific vision of childhood and adolescence. Hall treated this vision as a moral philosophy. (BC)

Reflects on researchers' conceptions about psychological growth over the last century. Discusses five themes relevant to developmental research: (1) the selection of phenomena for study; (2) the use of continuous dimensions or categories to describe children's characteristics; (3) continuity versus discontinuity in development; (4) the influence…

Behaviorism and psychoanalytic theory, prevalent early in this century, declined at midcentury. Theorists subsequently developed domain-specific theories of socialization, which were influenced by, or resulted in, changing conceptions of children's identification with their parents, changing definitions of optimal parenting, and an understanding…