Review of Child Development Research. Vol 1

This book makes an admirable effort to present to practicing physicians, and others who provide services for children, a survey of recent systematic research findings in child development. Although the form is largely successful, the substance of this volume, with several exceptions, indicates a continuing distance between clinical medicine and American academic psychology. Factors that contribute significantly to this gulf are the differing points of vantage and the contrasting responsibilities that each group has. Whereas the academic psychologist's main aims are to understand and explain, understandably without the major medical concerns and responsibilities, the physician's main goals are largely carried out through diagnosing and treating the patient. The academic or experimental psychologist is guided by the rigor of his research design, and the need for achieving valid generalizations. The physician, by comparison, is guided by the agreement to do no harm and to strengthen each patient with the best knowledge