The Psychology of the Child

By Bärbel Inhelder, Jean Piaget, barbel piaget, jean & inhelder

Book Overview

The definitive account of children's cognitive development by the renowned psychologist Jean Piaget

"Piaget's stress on the interaction of biological functions and the structure of the environment...was, in the opinion of many psychologists and education specialists, as liberating and as revolutionary as Sigmund Freud's."--New York Times

Jean Piaget's influence on child psychology is unmatched. His pathbreaking investigations and theories of cognitive development sent psychological research in new directions, and his influence has an ever-growing impact on the culture at large.

In The Psychology of the Child, Jean Piaget and his long-time collaborator B rbel Inhelder offer a definitive presentation of Piaget's research and theories of how cognitive processes develop. Through intensive interviews and observations, Piaget realized that cognition develops over time, in response to one's environment, and with exposure to new information. Through his exemplary descriptions of a child's cognitive development from infancy to adolescence, this classic book gives readers a broad and nuanced understanding of how intelligence unfolds.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0465095003
• ISBN13: 9780465095001
• Release Date: October 1972
• Publisher: Basic Books
• Length: 192 Pages
• Weight: 0.47 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 5.5" x 7.9"

Customer Reviews

A SUMMARY OVERVIEW OF THE WORK OF PIAGET AND INHELDER

Jean Piaget (1896-1980) was a Swiss developmental psychologist known for his epistemological studies with children. His theory of cognitive development and epistemological view are known as "genetic epistemology". Bärbel Inhelder (1913-1997) was a Swiss developmental psychologist; she was probably Piaget's most well-known co-worker. The authors state in the Preface, "In this volume we have tried to present, as briefly and as clearly as possible , a synthesis, or summing up. of our work in child psychology. A book such as this seemed to us particularly desirable since our published studies have been spread out over a number of volumes, some of them quite lengthy and smoe of them fairly difficult to read. This little book, of course, is not meant to be a substitute for reading the other volumes. But it represents, we believe, a useful introduction to the questions we have studied and will enable the reader to gain an adequate understanding of what we have learned in our investigations." Here are some representative quotations from the book: "(O)ne might be tempted to consider the expressions 'child psychology' and 'genetic psychology' to be synonymous, but there is an important distinction between them: Whereas child psychology deals with the child for his own sake and does not consider his eventual development into an adult, we tend today to use the term 'genetic psychology' to refer to the study of the developmental processes that underlie the mental functions studied in general psychology." "There is certainly such a thing as a sensori-motor intelligence, but it is very difficult to specify the exact moment when it appears." "It is the random ("one-to-one") correspondences that lead to number, for they already imply numerical unity. Number must still be explained genetically, however; otherwise a vicious circle results." "It is highly probable, then, that the social exchanges characteristic of the preoperatory level are preoperative; that is, at once social from the point of view of the subject and centered upon the child and his own activity from the point of view of the observer." "Each new mental structure, by integrating the preceding ones, succeeds both in partly liberating the individual from his past and in inaugurating new activities which at the formal operatory level are mainly oriented toward the future."

If you have Children

If you have children this is a must read. If you wish to concentrat on children in your practice, or are just interested in what makes a child "tick", this is a great book.