`This is an impressive work... and will provide the advanced reader with a rich source of theory and evidence. There is a huge amount to be got from the book and I suspect it will become a key work' - J Gavin Bremner, Department of Psychology, Lancaster University The Handbook of Developmental Psychology is a comprehensive, authoritative yet frontier-pushing overview of the study of human development presented in a single-volume format. It is ideal for experienced individuals wishing for an up-to-date survey of the central themes prevalent to developmental psychology, both past and present, and for those seeking a reference work to help appreciate the subject for the first time. The insightful contributions from world-leading developmental psychologists successfully and usefully integrate different perspectives to studying the subject, following a systematic life-span structure, from pre-natal development through to old age in human beings. The Handbook then concludes with a substantive section on the methodological approaches to the study of development, focusing on both qualitative and quantitative techniques. This unique reference work will be hugely influential for anyone needing or wishing for a broad, yet enriched understanding of this fascinating subject. It will be a particularly invaluable resource for academics and researchers in the fields of developmental psychology, education, parenting, cultural and biological psychology and anthropology.

Early Cognitive Development: Ontogeny and Phylogeny

Early Cognitive Development: Ontogeny and Phylogeny

Early cognitive development: Ontogeny and phylogeny
JonasLanger, SusanRivera, MatthewSchlesinger and AnnWakeley

Introduction and Brief History

Cognitive development has an evolutionary as well as an ontogenetic history. Its phylogenetic and ontogenetic roots predate the acquisition of language or symbolization. But its ontogeny already begins to be affiliated with cultural, especially language or symbol development during human infancy. Infants begin to use conventional symbolizing to represent and communicate knowledge.

Whether cognitive and symbolic development already begin to be affiliated in phylogeny is a controversial issue that is starting to be studied empirically. It was assumed that even the great apes only develop the subjective (e.g. affective vocal expressions and gestures of desire) and not the objective (e.g. deictive reference) aspects of language or symbolic processing ...

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