The Cambridge Handbook of Cognitive Development: (Cambridge Handbooks in Psychology)

How does cognition develop in infants, children and adolescents? This handbook presents a cutting-edge overview of the field of cognitive development, spanning basic methodology, key domain-based findings and applications. Part One covers the neurobiological constraints and laws of brain development, while Part Two covers the fundamentals of cognitive development from birth to adulthood: object, number, categorization, reasoning, decision-making and socioemotional cognition. The final Part Three covers educational and school-learning domains, including numeracy, literacy, scientific reasoning skills, working memory and executive skills, metacognition, curiosity-driven active learning and more. Featuring chapters written by the world's leading scholars in experimental and developmental psychology, as well as in basic neurobiology, cognitive neuroscience, computational modelling and developmental robotics, this collection is the most comprehensive reference work to date on cognitive development of the twenty-first century. It will be a vital resource for scholars and graduate students in developmental psychology, neuroeducation and the cognitive sciences.

Table of Contents:
Part I. Neurobiological Constraints and Laws of Cognitive Development: 1. How life regulation and feelings motivate the cultural mind: a neurobiological account; 2. Epigenesis, synapse selection, cultural imprints and human brain development: from molecules to cognition; 3. Mapping the human brain from the preterm period to infancy using 3D magnetic resonance imaging: cortical folding and early maturation processes; 4. Development and maturation of the human brain from infancy to adolescence; 5. Genetic and experiential factors in brain development: the examples of executive attention and self-regulation; 6. The brain basis underlying the transition from adolescent to adulthood; Part II. Fundamentals of Cognitive Development from Infancy to Adolescence and Young Adulthood: 7. Differences between humans, great apes and monkeys in cognition, communication, language and morality; 8. Individuating and physical reasoning about objects in infancy; 9. Infant categorization; 10. Infant numerical cognition: does primitive number sense provide a foothold for learning formal mathematics?; 11. How sophisticated is infants' theory of mind?; 12. Social cognition and moral evaluation in early human childhood; 13. Scientific thinking and reasoning in infants and young children; 14. Computational approaches to cognitive development in infancy: Bayesian and artificial-neural-network models; 15. Development of qualitative thinking: language and categorization; 16. Development of numerical knowledge; 17. Numerical cognition and executive functions: development as progressive inhibitory control of misleading visuospatial dimensions; 18. Developing theory of mind and counterfactual reasoning in children; 19. Development of executive function skills in childhood: relevance for important life-outcomes; 20. Developing executive functions and flexible adaptation during childhood; 21. Reasoning bias and dual process theory: developmental considerations and current directions; 22. Social cognitive development: the intergroup context; 23. Behavioral and neural development of cognitive control and risky decision-making across adolescence; 24. The Triadic neural systems model through a machine-learning; Part III. Education and School-learning Domains: 25. Linking cognitive neuroscientific research to educational practice in the classroom; 26. Literacy: understanding normal and impaired reading development through personalized large-scale neurocomputational models; 27. Reasoning in mathematical development: neurocognitive foundations and their implications for the classroom; 28. Children's scientific reasoning skills in light of general cognitive development; 29. Working memory training: from the laboratory to schools; 30. Interventions for improving executive functions during development: working memory, cognitive flexibility and inhibition; 31. Curiosity-driven learning in development: computational theories and educational applications; 32. Neurocomputational methods: from models of brain and cognition to artificial intelligence in education.

About the Author :
Olivier Houdé is Professor of Psychology at the University of Paris, where he is the honorary director of the Laboratory of Psychology at the Sorbonne. He is an academician at the Institut de France. One of the world's leading specialists of cognitive development, he is Editor in Chief of the Dictionary of Cognitive Science (2004). Grégoire Borst is Professor of Psychology at the University of Paris, where he is the director of the Laboratory of Psychology at the Sorbonne. A rising star in the areas of cognitive development and neuroeducation, he is also a member of the board of the Journal of Experimental Child Psychology.

Review :
'Anyone interested in cognitive development writ large should enjoy this marvelous survey of the field. The editors have assembled a remarkable set of chapters that are comprehensive and stimulating, full of facts, theories and wisdom. This collection not only conveys the essential discoveries and insights of the past but also provides rich glimpses of where numerous research programs are headed. This handbook should grace the shelves of anyone who is even remotely interested in this field.' Stephen M. Kosslyn, Honorary Dean for the Social Sciences, Harvard University, USA 'This handbook will be the definitive resource for novice and seasoned researchers. Rooted in Piagetian constructivism, leaders in the field discuss contemporary approaches to cognitive development, highlighting periods of growth and regression throughout the lifespan. From brain research to empirical observation, this volume provides the rich, theoretical tapestry currently shaping the discipline.' Stuart Marcovitch, Professor of Psychology, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, USA 'This comprehensive and impressive volume situates the current thinking in cognitive development in historical and philosophical context. Characterizing the last 40 years of cognitive developmental research as fundamentally interdisciplinary, the editors bring together research in neurobiology, experimental psychology, computational modelling, comparative psychology, and educational application. The expert contributors present accessible chapters integrating theory and empirical evidence throughout. This extensive overview of current work will be of value to those working in the field, especially those starting out, as well as researchers in other disciplines who want to understand contemporary thought in cognitive development.' Sarah Beck, Professor of Cognitive Development, University of Birmingham, UK