Reviews six books on developmental psychology: (1) "Children and Violence" (David Reiss and others); (2) "Television and the American Child" (George Comstock); (3) "Intellectual Development" (Robert Sternberg and Cynthia Berg); (4) "Context and Development" (Robert Cohen and Alexander Siegel); (5) "Adolescent Identity Formation" (Gerald Adams and…

Notes that variety and difference in writing styles, methodology, and theoretical perspectives are both the greatest strength and greatest limitation of this book containing articles on child, adult, and animal play written by authors from education, psychology, anthropology, and sociology. Suggests that readers can gain theoretical and…

Reviews the following books: (1) "The Reading Crisis: Why Poor Children Fall Behind"; (2) "Prevention of Child Maltreatment: Developmental and Ecological Perspectives"; (3) "Attention and Information Processing in Infants and Adults: Perspectives from Human and Animal Research"; and (4) "Children's Interpersonal Trust: Sensitivity to Lying,…

Reviews "The Mind's Staircase: Exploring the Conceptual Underpinnings of Children's Thought and Knowledge," edited by Robbie Case. A main thesis of the book, which discusses theoretical issues and presents empirical evidence, is that children's cognitive development is guided by central conceptual structures, or networks of concepts that…

Reviews the report of a study that examined the effects of maternal depression on children. Provides detailed chapter descriptions including positive comments on the use of case studies, interviews, and tests. Comments negatively on the positioning of the main thesis and the complex jargon that might limit the audience. (SD)

Notes that Morrish's book reviews popular discipline practices, three building blocks of discipline, and methods for teaching children that rights and freedoms must be governed by reason, respect, and responsibility. Asserts that the book's examples span the home and school environments and that the book emphasizes proactive and preventive…

Examines four novels for children, each told in the voice of a bicultural child, which express four states of cross-cultural experience--dual rejection, selective rejection, attempted dual identities, and self-created inclusive identity. (MM)

Reviews the findings of L. Koch and A. Gross (1997) and suggests that the positive perceptions of black children toward Black English reflect the dominant linguistic standard within their peer groups. Retention of the Black English vernacular is advocated because it is an expressively rich form of communication. (SLD)

Reviews four books: (1) "On Intelligence. . .More or Less: A Bioecological Treatise on Intellectual Development" (Stephen J. Ceci); (2) "Knowing Children: Experiments in Conversation and Cognition" (Michael Siegal); (3) "Adolescents and Their Families: Paths of Ego Development" (S. T. Hauser and others); and (4) "Adolescence: An Anthropological…

Reviews Baron-Cohen's study of autism and an explanatory theory called modularity of mindreading, which proposed a domain-specific modular psychological model based on evolutionary, developmental, psychopathological, and neurobiological considerations. Enumerates problems with the modularity approach and emphasized the evolution of domain general…

Reviews the book "Handbook of Child Behavior Therapy in the Psychiatric Setting." Discusses impact of professional and scientific writing on the reputation and growth of the field of behavior therapy. Considers the book impaired by lack of consistency across chapters with respect to level of sophistication, by redundancy, by an almost total…