Encyclopedia of Child Behavior and Development

Although encyclopedias have existed for over two thousand years, the modern encyclopedia evolved from dictionaries compiled in the seventeenth century.The word encyclopedia derives from the Greek translation as "well rounded education" or "general knowledge."Initially, encyclopedias were contained in a single volume but eventually evolved to multi-volume works.Today, encyclopedias offer a wide base of knowledge specific as well as broad topics serving primarily as a reference work and often written by many authors well informed about the topics to which they are contributing.In the past twenty-five years there has been an increase in interest in creating encyclopedic volumes broad in breadth and scope, providing knowledge beyond just dictionary definitions in specific areas.There are now literally hundreds of encyclopedias dealing with specific topics in psychology, child development, education and mental health.We set out on this ambitious project to create a reference work containing a broad range of knowledge about issues related to children's development and behavior.It is our intent to create a living volume, one that will serve as a printed and electronic reference work to which additions will be made for many years to come.