Books for the lay person on child development

Wed Jun 4 16:41:50 UTC 2003

At 10:49 AM +0100 6/4/03, Alcock, Katie wrote:
>My brother and his wife, an ecologist and a university adminstrator,
>are expecting their first baby - and I get asked this question by
>educated and intelligent parents of infants who come into our lab.
>What is a good book on child development, especially infant
>development, for the lay person? I'm particularly looking for one
>that is well balanced and steers clear of, or at least balances out,
>the "baby as mini-scientist who knows oh-so-much about the world"
>but also the "it's essential you expose your child to Mozart in the
>womb" ends of the spectrum.

Dear Katie,

If your brother and his wife are the sorts who like reading popular
science, they might also enjoy reading my forthcoming book, The Birth
of the Mind (Basic Books, January 2004), which focuses on
understanding the biological contribution to early (especially
prenatal) development, what genes do, how embryology works, how the
circuitry of the brain gets wired,  and how genes themselves make
learning possible. (A brief snippet, apropos Mozart, is below.)

It's still at the copy editor, but if your brother and sister-in-law
wanted a sneak preview, let me know.

Best,
Gary

Babies can learn even when still inside the womb. In one delightful
study, psychologists Anthony DeCasper and Melanie Spence asked
prospective mothers to read a three minute passage from either Dr.
Seuss The Cat in The Hat or Gurney and Gurney's The King, The Mice,
and The Cheese. Tested just a day or two after birth, the infants
that had been exposed to Seuss in the womb preferred Seuss; those
that heard The King preferred The King -- even when another person
read the stories.  This is not to say late trimester infants actually
understood the Cat's tale, but they do seem to have caught on to its
distinctive rhythms. Another study showed that third trimester
fetuses could pick up the melody in Mary Had a Little Lamb, and
another that they could recognize the melody from the theme song of a
British soap opera.  (I am not, however, suggesting that you try this
at home. There's no evidence that prenatal exposure has any lasting
long-term consequences, and some experts believe that such deliberate
exposure could actually be disruptive to the developing auditory
system as well the baby's natural wake-sleep cycles.)
--

During the 2002-2003 academic year:
Center for Advanced Study in Behavioral Sciences
75 Alta Road
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Tel: (650) 321-2052
Fax: (650) 321-1192

Permanent Coordinates
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http://www.psych.nyu.edu/gary/
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