Cognitive Development and Cognitive Neuroscience

Goswami’s stated goal in writing this book is "to provide a selective, but hopefully representative, review of some of the most interesting past and current work in cognitive development and developmental cognitive neuroscience." She attains this goal in impressive fashion. Professors as well as students will learn a lot from reading this book; I know that I did.

Robert S. Siegler, Schiff Foundations Professor of Psychology and Education, Teachers College, Columbia University

In this revision of a now-classic overview of cognitive development, Goswami continues to provide an engaging and synthetic review of the best behavioural research in the area, informed by interchange with cognitive science, neuroscience, computer modelling, and studies of nonhuman animals. Working through the lens of neuroconstructivism, she nevertheless provides a lucid account of other classic and contemporary theories.

Nora S. Newcombe, Laura H. Carnell Professor of Psychology, Temple University, Philadelphia

In this book, Goswami masterfully blends research from traditional approaches to the study of cognitive development with the latest insights into developmental processes emerging from neuroscience and genetics. Spanning the developmental arch from prenatal development through to adolescence, this book provides an engaging overview of the developmental processes associated with attention, learning, memory, language, reasoning and the emergence of concepts. A must read for not only for those interested in cognitive development but also for instructors seeking an up-to-date, interdisciplinary synthesis of cognitive development.

Daniel Ansari, Department of Psychology & Faculty of Education, Western University, Canada

While some texts have an encyclopedic feel in terms of including a one-sentence description of every study in the literature, giving rise to a disjointed reading experience, Goswami’s Cognitive Neuroscience and Cognitive Development has a more natural narrative flow. Coherence is preserved in the movement across topics because the book has an organizing theme in which ideas from cognitive neuroscience are used to connect perception and cognition. The notion that cognitive development may emerge from distributed spatial and temporal patterns of activity in brain response to perceptual experience, activity that is enriched as language is acquired, is especially provocative.

Paul C. Quinn, Francis Alison Professor and Trustees Distinguished Professor of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark DE