Originally published in 1997, this edited volume provided an authoritative account of research into infant development at the time, containing 13 chapters written by leading British and North American infancy researchers. Editorial sections are used to provide an integrated whole and to point the reader to similarities and contrasts between arguments developed by different authors. Although the chapters are organised along conventional lines into sections on perceptual, cognitive and social development, the emphasis (appearing both within chapters and in the linking editorial passages within sections) is on links between perceptual, cognitive and social aspects of development. Thus, exciting new findings on infant perception are related to both old and new accounts of cognitive development, and links are drawn between these topics and the development of social interaction and language. There is a strong theoretical component in all sections of the book, with particular attention given to both traditional approaches such as Piagetian theory and more recent approaches such as direct perception and dynamic systems theory. There is also a chapter devoted to interpreting infant development from a psychoanalytic perspective.
A particular feature of this book is its aim to make recent findings and theoretical developments accessible to a student audience with little advanced knowledge of the area. Thus, the book should appeal to a wide readership ranging from advanced undergraduate psychology students to established infancy researchers.