Parenting and Theory of Mind represents the conjunction of two major research literatures in child psychology. One is longstanding. The question of how best to rear children has been a central topic for psychology ever since psychology began to develop as a science. The other research literature is a good deal younger, though quickly expanding. Theory of mind (ToM) has to do with understanding of the mental world-what people (children in particular) know or think about mental phenomena such as beliefs, desires, and emotions. An important question that research on TOM addresses is where do children's ToM abilities come from? In particular, how do children's experiences shape their development? If we know the formative experiences that underlie ToM, then we may be able to optimize this important aspect of development for all children. The last 15 or so years have seen a rapid expansion of the literature on the social contributors to ToM, including hundreds of studies directed to various aspects of parenting. These studies have made clear that parents can be important contributors to what their children understand about the mental world. This is the first book to comprehensively bring together the literature on ToM and parenting, summarizing what we know about how parenting contributes to one of the most important outcomes in cognitive development and outlining future directions for research in this growing area.
Author: Scott A. Miller Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA Published: 03/21/2016 Pages: 368 Binding Type: Hardcover Weight: 1.30lbs Size: 9.30h x 6.50w x 1.50d ISBN: 9780190232689
About the Author
Scott Miller, PhD, is Professor Emeritus in the Department of Psychology at the University of Florida. He was a faculty member in Psychology at the University of Michigan prior to joining the University of Florida's Psychology Department. Dr. Miller is a member of the Cognitive Development Society, the Jean Piaget Society, and the Society for Research in Child Development and a Fellow of the American Psychological Association and the Association for Psychological Science. His research has examined various aspects of cognitive development in young children, and his current research focus is on the development of theory of mind during the preschool and grade-school years.
