Merrill-Palmer Quarterly articles from October 2004

Merrill-Palmer Quarterly archives from October 2004

Commentaries in honor of the 50th anniversary of Merrill-Palmer Quarterly: an introduction to the October 2004 issue.
October 1, 2004... This issue is the second in a two-part series that commemorates the 50th anniversary of Merrill-Palmer Quarterly: A Journal of Developmental Psychology. Like its July 2004 predecessor, this issue contains invited commentaries written by senior...

The nature-nurture debate and public policy.
October 1, 2004... The contentious nature-nurture debate in developmental psychology is poised to reach a rapprochement with contemporary concepts of gene-environment interaction, transaction, and fit. Discoveries over the past decade have revealed how neither...

The role of mental representation in social development.
October 1, 2004... In this article we focus on a major advance of the past few decades: the introduction of mental representation as a tool for understanding social development. We argue that despite the considerable contributions made by this approach, it is...

Cognitive development includes global and domain-specific processes.
October 1, 2004... Global accounts of cognitive development, best illustrated by Piaget's theory, dominated the field until the 1970s and 1980s, when they were gradually superseded by domain-specific accounts. In this article I present evidence suggesting that...

Fathers, families, and the future: a plethora of plausible predictions.
October 1, 2004... This commentary focuses on new directions in the study of fathers and families. Several topics that are ripe for more theoretical and empirical scrutiny are outlined. These include the biological determinants of fathering, cultural constraints...

Early learning and school readiness: can early intervention make a difference?
October 1, 2004... Children's experiences prior to kindergarten entry are correlated with degree of cognitive development and school readiness as measured by standardized assessments of cognitive and linguistic performance. Children from economically poor and...

Temperament and the pursuit of an integrated developmental psychology.
October 1, 2004... Historically, developmental psychology has been split into the areas of social development and cognitive development, with the cognitive area most recently dominating the field. Nevertheless, basic questions about development often require more...

Paying attention to and not neglecting social withdrawal and social isolation.
October 1, 2004... This commentary outlines the origins, history, and current status of research related to children's social withdrawal and social isolation. Early research related to children's peer relationships is first explored, followed by a discussion of...

Historical lessons: the value of pluralism in psychological research.
October 1, 2004... Psychologists tend to proclaim that their favored theoretical approach is the wave of the future that will replace existing paradigms. Typically, these proclamations, dating back to the early part of the 20th century, include the assertion that...

Progress and prospects in the psychology of moral development.
October 1, 2004... This commentary on the psychology of moral development provides a critical analysis of some important theoretical trends and empirical advances marking past progress and also discusses some future prospects for the field. The primary concern is...