The scope of these chapters reflects the strong influence that Sandra Wood Scarr's scholarship-her empirical research and theoretical contributions-has had on what we know about experience and development via the lens of the psychological sciences, especially the fields of developmental psychology, behavior genetics, early education and child care.

This 32nd volume of the Minnesota Symposium on Child Psychology celebrates the 75th anniversary of the University of Minnesota's Institute of Child Development. All eight essays are devoted to developmental science, its history, and current status. Taken together, the chapters in this book show how the history of science connects past and future, how it gives the individual investigator an identity and sense of purpose, how contemporary studies occur within larger traditions, and how institutions like the Institute of Child Development, constitute cultural traditions of their own. Collectively, these essays show that the past explains a great deal--whether we want to know about the processes through which the child acquires symbolic thought or whether we want to know how and why, during the last century, a few enduring centers were established for the scientific study of children and adolescents. Reading these essays, one obtains a sense of how the past becomes evidence, how it forms models for the way we think, and how intellectual challenges arise.

The scope of these chapters reflects the strong influence that Sandra Wood Scarr s scholarship her empirical research and theoretical contributions has had on what we know about experience and development via the lens of the psychological sciences, especially the fields of developmental psychology, behavior genetics, early education and child care.

Systematic observation is essential for educators to evaluate properly the effectiveness of curricula and to address the problems of individual students. This volume emphasizes early childhood settings, and focuses on those skills that enable the observer to make appropriate, valid inferences and to arrive at decisions based on objective observation data gathered in natural learning environments and diverse educational settings. The edition includes new focuses on: procedures for observing environmental factors that affect learning and behaviour; the importance of understanding the cultural and linguistic characteristics of children's learning environments; the key role of observation in the assessment process; the forms of observation, with illustrative examples; and the exploration of reliability, sampling behaviour, recording formats, summarizing observational outcomes and validity. Using photographs, sample worksheets, a simple format and straightforward language, the authors cite real-life examples from early childhood that can be applied to a variety of classroom experiences.