Child Psychology: A Contemporary Viewpoint

by E. Mavis Hetherington

This text is a topically organized survey of theory and empirical studies in child development. It exposes students to a wide range of theoretical viewpoints, including cognitive, behavioural, and biological perspectives.

Genres: Psychology, Parenting, Science, Nonfiction

491 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1975

Reviews

[Ryan Lang · Rating 3 out of 5]

This textbook provides a good basic overview of early human development, though I find the author takes a bit too much privilege in interpreting certain studies and facts, while providing often baseless (non-cited) and unnecessary vamp on supposed implications of the sections. I also dislike how much focus is put into detailing the huge number of different studies that have come up with similar but slightly different results on topics, even if the differences are only in name. For example, the number of different growth models at each stage of life is daunting and unnecessary, especially considering that virtually no time is spent covering the conceptual, foundational, and historical aspects of this field of psychology.

I've read two other developmental psychology books and prefer both heavily over this one.