Infant Development

Originally published in 1989, Infant Development provided detailed, up-to-date and authoritative accounts of major areas of infant development at the time. The book is subdivided into three sections: Perceptual Development; Cognitive Development; Social Interaction, Early Language and Emotion. The chapters are written by researchers who were internationally recognised authorities on the areas in which they contribute. While written by different contributors the book is a well-integrated account of current developments in our understanding of infant development.

Infant Development presupposes no detailed knowledge of infancy on the part of the reader, but at the same time the reader is guided to an understanding of the topical and lively controversies that represent the current state of the art which make the field of infant development such an interesting area of study. Today it can be read in its historical context.

List of Contributors. Preface. Part 1: Perceptual Development Introduction Alan Slater 1. Development of Basic Visual Functions Janette Atkinson and Oliver Braddick 2. Visual Memory and Perception in Early Infancy Alan Slater 3. Events and Encounters in Infant Perception George Butterworth 4. The Perceptual World of the New-born Child Tom Bower Part 2: Cognitive Development Introduction Gavin Bremner 5. Object Permanence in Infancy Paul Harris 6. Development of Spatial Awareness in Infancy Gavin Bremner 7. Development of Problem-solving in Infancy Peter Willatts Part 3: Social Interaction, Early Language, and Emotion Introduction Gavin Bremner and Alan Slater 8. Early Social Development Rudolph Schaffer 9. Early Language Development Martyn Barrett 10. The Social Structuring of Infant Cognition Andrew Lock, Valerie Service, Alfredo Brito and Penelope Chandler 11. Linking Emotion and Thinking in Infant Development: A Psychoanalytic Perspective Cathy Urwin. Author Index. Subject Index.

Alan Slater was Associate Professor at Exeter University. He is the author of over 130 scientific articles, the majority of which are on infant development. He has collaborated with many internationally renowned infancy researchers and is a Fellow of the Association for Psychological Science for ‘sustained and distinguished contributions to psychological science’.

Gavin Bremner took his first degree in Psychology at St. Andrews University in 1974, and gained a D.Phil. in Developmental Psychology from the University of Oxford in 1978. In 1977 he obtained a Lectureship in Psychology at Lancaster University, where he spent his working career, becoming Professor of Developmental Psychology in 1994, and Professor Emeritus in 2021. His publications are mainly in the area of perceptual development in infancy. In 1988, he published his book “Infancy”, which appeared in a second edition in 1994. He has co-edited numerous books on infant development.