The Scientist in the Crib

The Scientist in the Crib PDF Author: Alison Gopnik
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780965076005
Category : Children
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
A review of research on learning and infancy, drawn from hundreds of case studies, shows how children by the age of three are virtual learning machines and discusses how parents can help this learning process.

The Scientist in the Crib

The Scientist in the Crib PDF Author: Alison Gopnik
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780965076005
Category : Children
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Get Book Here

Book Description
A review of research on learning and infancy, drawn from hundreds of case studies, shows how children by the age of three are virtual learning machines and discusses how parents can help this learning process.

The Philosophical Baby

The Philosophical Baby PDF Author: Alison Gopnik
Publisher: Macmillan
ISBN: 0374231966
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 300

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Book Description
A leading psychologist and philosopher, as well as a mother, explains the groundbreaking new psychological, neuroscientific, and philosophical developments as they relate to the development of very young children.

How Babies Think

How Babies Think PDF Author: Alison Gopnik
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780753814178
Category : Cognition in infants
Languages : en
Pages : 279

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Book Description
Learning begins in the first days of life. Scientists are now discovering how young children develop emotionally and intellectually, and are beginning to realize that from birth babies already know a staggering amount about the world around them. In the first book of its kind for a popular audience, three leading US scientists draw on twenty-five years of research in philosophy, psychology, computer science, linguistics and neuroscience to reveal what babies know and how they learn it.

Words, Thoughts, and Theories

Words, Thoughts, and Theories PDF Author: Alison Gopnik
Publisher: MIT Press
ISBN: 0262571269
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 289

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Book Description
Words, Thoughts, and Theories articulates and defends the "theory theory" of cognitive and semantic development, the idea that infants and young children, like scientists, learn about the world by forming and revising theories, a view of the origins of knowledge and meaning that has broad implications for cognitive science. Gopnik and Meltzoff interweave philosophical arguments and empirical data from their own and other's research. Both the philosophy and the psychology, the arguments and the data, address the same fundamental epistemological question: How do we come to understand the world around us? Recently, the theory theory has led to much interesting research. However, this is the first book to look at the theory in extensive detail and to systematically contrast it with other theories. It is also the first to apply the theory to infancy and early childhood, to use the theory to provide a framework for understanding semantic development, and to demonstrate that language acquisition influences theory change in children.The authors show that children just beginning to talk are engaged in profound restructurings of several domains of knowledge. These restructurings are similar to theory changes in science, and they influence children's early semantic development, since children's cognitive concerns shape and motivate their use of very early words. But, in addition, children pay attention to the language they hear around them and this too reshapes their cognition, and causes them to reorganize their theories.

The Gardener and the Carpenter

The Gardener and the Carpenter PDF Author: Alison Gopnik
Publisher: Macmillan
ISBN: 0374229708
Category : Family & Relationships
Languages : en
Pages : 317

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Book Description
"Alison Gopnik, a ... developmental psychologist, [examines] the paradoxes of parenthood from a scientific perspective"--

The Science of Mom

The Science of Mom PDF Author: Alice Callahan
Publisher: JHU Press
ISBN: 1421442000
Category : Family & Relationships
Languages : en
Pages : 423

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Book Description
Now updated! The new edition of this best-selling guide uses science to tackle some of the most important decisions facing new parents—from sleep training and vaccinations to breastfeeding and baby food. Is cosleeping safe? How important is breastfeeding? Are food allergies preventable? Should we be worried about the aluminum in vaccines? Searching for answers to these tough parenting questions can yield a deluge of conflicting advice. In this revised and expanded edition of The Science of Mom, Alice Callahan, a science writer whose work appears in the New York Times and the Washington Post, recognizes that families must make their own decisions and gives parents the tools to evaluate the evidence for themselves. Sharing the latest scientific research on raising healthy babies, she covers topics like the microbiome, attachment, vaccine safety, pacifiers, allergies, increasing breast milk production, and choosing an infant formula.

The Myth of the First Three Years

The Myth of the First Three Years PDF Author: John Bruer
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1439118744
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 365

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Book Description
Most parents today have accepted the message that the first three years of a baby's life determine whether or not the child will grow into a successful, thinking person. But is this powerful warning true? Do all the doors shut if baby's brain doesn't get just the right amount of stimulation during the first three years of life? Have discoveries from the new brain science really proved that parents are wholly responsible for their child's intellectual successes and failures alike? Are parents losing the "brain wars"? No, argues national expert John Bruer. In The Myth of the First Three Years he offers parents new hope by debunking our most popular beliefs about the all-or-nothing effects of early experience on a child's brain and development. Challenging the prevailing myth -- heralded by the national media, Head Start, and the White House -- that the most crucial brain development occurs between birth and age three, Bruer explains why relying on the zero to three standard threatens a child's mental and emotional well-being far more than missing a few sessions of toddler gymnastics. Too many parents, educators, and government funding agencies, he says, see these years as our main opportunity to shape a child's future. Bruer agrees that valid scientific studies do support the existence of critical periods in brain development, but he painstakingly shows that these same brain studies prove that learning and cognitive development occur throughout childhood and, indeed, one's entire life. Making hard science comprehensible for all readers, Bruer marshals the neurological and psychological evidence to show that children and adults have been hardwired for lifelong learning. Parents have been sold a bill of goods that is highly destructive because it overemphasizes infant and toddler nurturing to the detriment of long-term parental and educational responsibilities. The Myth of the First Three Years is a bold and controversial book because it urges parents and decision-makers alike to consider and debate for themselves the evidence for lifelong learning opportunities. But more than anything, this book spreads a message of hope: while there are no quick fixes, conscientious parents and committed educators can make a difference in every child's life, from infancy through childhood, and beyond.

What's Going on in There?

What's Going on in There? PDF Author: Lise Eliot
Publisher: Bantam
ISBN: 0307575381
Category : Family & Relationships
Languages : en
Pages : 546

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Book Description
As a research neuroscientist, Lise Eliot has made the study of the human brain her life's work. But it wasn't until she was pregnant with her first child that she became intrigued with the study of brain development. She wanted to know precisely how the baby's brain is formed, and when and how each sense, skill, and cognitive ability is developed. And just as important, she was interested in finding out how her role as a nurturer can affect this complex process. How much of her baby's development is genetically ordained--and how much is determined by environment? Is there anything parents can do to make their babies' brains work better--to help them become smarter, happier people? Drawing upon the exploding research in this field as well as the stories of real children, What's Going On in There? is a lively and thought-provoking book that charts the brain's development from conception through the critical first five years. In examining the many factors that play crucial roles in that process, What's Going On in There? explores the evolution of the senses, motor skills, social and emotional behaviors, and mental functions such as attention, language, memory, reasoning, and intelligence. This remarkable book also discusses: how a baby's brain is "assembled" from scratch the critical prenatal factors that shapebrain development how the birthing process itself affects the brain which forms of stimulation are most effective at promoting cognitive development how boys' and girls' brains develop differently how nutrition, stress, and other physical and social factors can permanently affect a child's brain Brilliantly blending cutting-edge science with a mother's wisdom and insight, What's Going On in There? is an invaluable contribution to the nature versus nurture debate. Children's development is determined both by the genes they are born with and the richness of their early environment. This timely and important book shows parents the innumerable ways in which they can actually help their children grow better brains.

What We Believe but Cannot Prove

What We Believe but Cannot Prove PDF Author: John Brockman
Publisher: Harper Collins
ISBN: 0061828106
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 324

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Book Description
More than one hundred of the world's leading thinkers write about things they believe in, despite the absence of concrete proof Scientific theory, more often than not, is born of bold assumption, disparate bits of unconnected evidence, and educated leaps of faith. Some of the most potent beliefs among brilliant minds are based on supposition alone -- yet that is enough to push those minds toward making the theory viable. Eminent cultural impresario, editor, and publisher of Edge (www.edge.org), John Brockman asked a group of leading scientists and thinkers to answer the question: What do you believe to be true even though you cannot prove it? This book brings together the very best answers from the most distinguished contributors. Thought-provoking and hugely compelling, this collection of bite-size thought-experiments is a fascinating insight into the instinctive beliefs of some of the most brilliant minds today.

Algorithms to Live By

Algorithms to Live By PDF Author: Brian Christian
Publisher: Macmillan
ISBN: 1627790365
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 366

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Book Description
'Algorithms to Live By' looks at the simple, precise algorithms that computers use to solve the complex 'human' problems that we face, and discovers what they can tell us about the nature and origin of the mind.