Toward a Feminist Developmental Psychology

by Patricia H. Miller (Editor), Ellin Kofsky Scholnick (Editor)

This book integrates some of the most exciting recent scholarship on feminist theories and methods into developmental psychology.

318 pages, Paperback

First published February 24, 2000

About the author

Patricia H. Miller, Ph.D.
Department Head
Professor, Life-Span Developmental Psychology Program

Ph.D., University of Minnesota, 1970

Academic Information

Dr. Miller joined the Psychology faculty in Fall, 2001 and became Psychology Department Head in July, 2005; She previously was Director of the Institute of Women's Studies, 2001-2005. Formerly, Dr. Miller was Professor of Psychology at the University of Florida, and also was Associate Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences from 1995 to 1999. Before that, she was on the faculty at the University of Michigan.

Dr. Miller's research interests center around cognitive development during childhood, social cognitive development, theories of development, and gender. Her specific areas of interest are in the development of strategies of problem solving, memory and attention, theory of mind, metacognition, social attribution, gender and knowledge, and effects of exercise on cognitive functioning. Current research, funded by NIH, focuses on the effects of exercise on children's executive functions and school achievement.

Dr. Miller currently is President-Elect of APA Division 7 (Developmental). She also is Associate Editor of Child Development.

Reviews

[Willa · Rating 2 out of 5]

This contains some interesting articles (particularly Crick & Rose on relational aggression), however the book as a whole I find difficult to read, as it addresses the very feminist problems that I simply can't see as problems. It is rooted in a postmodern view of needing to address all the different factions of feminism and their critiques of developmental theory. In itself, that is a noble thing to do as I agree that feminism's tendency to ignore developmental psychology is a problem. However, from the assumption of validity of those critiques, one can never address them. So all in all, a rather frustrating read - in spite of some good content.

[Matthew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Maybe not super widely applicable, but if you're trying to bridge feminist/woman/gender studies and Developmental Psychology, this work is spot on! They go over how various aspects of feminist philosophy has informed psychology, how it can inform it, and how feminist philosophy can be informed by psychology.