The Development of Children’s Thinking: Its Social and Communicative Foundations

The Development of Children’s Thinking offers undergraduate and graduate students in psychology and other disciplines an introduction to several core areas of developmental psychology. It examines recent empirical research within the context of longstanding theoretical debates. In particular, it shows how a grasp of classic theories within developmental psychology is vital for a grasp of new areas of research such as cognitive neuroscience that have impacted on our understanding of how children develop.

The focus of this book will be on infancy and childhood, and it looks at:

• Theories and context of development
• How developmental psychology attempts to reconcile influences of nature and nurture
• Communication in infancy as a precursor to later thinking
• Language development in primates and young children
• Cognitive and social development, including the child’s understanding of the mind
• How studies of moral reasoning reflect upon our understanding of development 

Jeremy Carpendale

Jeremy I. M. Carpendale is Professor of Developmental Psychology at Simon Fraser University, Canada. He has published in the areas of cognitive, social cognitive, and moral development. His work focuses on the nature and development of thinking about social and moral matters and the role of language and social interaction in such development. He is author of How Children Develop Social Understanding (2006 with C. Lewis). He is an editor of several books, including Social Life and Social Knowledge: Toward a Process Account of Development (2008 with U. Müller, N. Budwig, & B. Sokol), The Cambridge Companion to Piaget (2009 with U. Müller & L. Smith), and Self- and Social-Regulation: Social interaction and the development of social understanding and executive functions (2010 with B. Sokol, U. Müller, A. Young, & G. Iarocci).

Charlie Lewis is Professor of Family and Developmental Psychology at Lancaster University, United Kingdom. His research focuses on both preschoolers’ social cognitive skills and the influence of family factors on the nature and development of these skills. He has written or edited 16 books and several research papers on cognitive, social cognitive, and social development not only in typical children, but also in atypical populations, particularly children with autism. His current research includes studies on the development of executive function skills in preschoolers and children with developmental difficulties.

Ulrich Müller

Ulrich Müller is a professor of life-span development in the Dept. of Psychology at the University of Victoria. He currently serves as Dept. Chair. Dr. Müller’s research focuses on the development of self-regulation, the contribution of self-regulation to psychological adjustment and academic achievement, and the impact of parent-child interaction on the development of self-regulation. Dr. Müller was awarded the Early Scientific Achievement Award from the Society of Research in Child Development in 2005. He has published widely in journals such as Child Development, Developmental Psychology, and Journal of Experimental Child Psychology. He is co-editor of 7 several books, including the Cambridge Companion to Piaget (2009), Self-Regulation and Autonomy (2013), Social Life and Social Knowledge (2008), and the prestigious Handbook of Child Psychology and Developmental Sciences, Vol. 2: Cognitive processes (7^th edition, 2015). ?