Infant and Child Development
Inf. Child Dev. 15: 555–559 (2006)
Book Reviews
A YOUNG MIND IN A GROWING
BRAIN.
Jerome Kagan, & Elinore Chapman
Herschkowitz. Lawrence Erlbaum,
Mahwah, NJ, 2005. pp. 336, Price:
$29.95; £21.50. ISBN 080585309X.
The title of this book ‘A Young Mind in a
Growing Brain’, reflects its key endea-
vour, which is to combine literature
from both psychology and neurology,
in order to ground the emergence of
cognitive phenomena across develop-
ment within a growing and changing
neural substrate. In combining these
literatures, the broader aim of the
authors is for psychologists and neu-
rologists interested in development to
reach a mutual appreciation of each
other’s literature. From this perspec-
tive, the book sets out to act as an
informed starting point for any reader
with an affiliation to either discipline,
or as a purely introductory text. The
book covers development progres-
sively from the pre-natal period to 8
years through linking key phases of
brain development with corresponding
emerging cognitive phenomena.
Creditably, this book covers a broad
range of material, from genetics and
heritability to aspects of social and
moral development. In this respect,
the majority of readers should encoun-
ter something new to consider. This
book therefore has a distinctly multi-
disciplinary flavour, and those who
champion an integrated approach in
the study of brain development will
find themselves in accord with the
book’s main objective. Furthermore
the authors not only state but also
clearly illustrate how we may reach
both a more informed and more
accurate understanding of develop-
ment through the combined interpreta-
tion of behaviour and brain events.
Kagan and Herschkowitz give one
example where infants familiarized
Copyright # 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
with a stimulus, are shown a similar
but different stimulus. Behaviourally,
infants looked at this new stimulus for
longer, suggesting that they detected
the difference, whereas visually
evoked potentials for the two stimuli
were similar, suggesting that no
change was detected (Slater, Morison,
& Somers, 1988).
Ultimately, for any researcher work-
ing within the field of development,
this book will raise a number of key
issues, and advocates viewpoints that
some may not be in agreement with.
Most notably, in pressing the case for
biological aspects of brain develop-
ment, the influence of the environment
very much takes a back seat. The
authors are clear that the traditional
nature versus nurture debate has in
some respects done us a disservice by
placing too much emphasis on the role
of the environment in shaping devel-
opment, to the detriment of other
deserving contributors. In fairness,
the accessibility of ‘live’ brain events
through techniques such as ERP and
fMRI, and knowledge of genetic con-
tributions, are a relatively recent occur-
rence in terms of the general history of
the literature, adding weight to our
existing understanding of structural
aspects of brain development and the
case for biology. However, one is left
with the outstanding question of how
gene expression, biological mechan-
isms, and environmental factors in
tandem modulate the developmental
process.
The authors make a valuable asso-
ciated point that without the appro-
priate biological mechanisms in place,
the impact of environmental stimuli
may be severely limited or restricted in
some way. Indeed, the way in which a
child processes the same environmen-
tal stimuli may be subject to change
over the course of development
(Karmiloff-Smith, 1998). In this respect,
556
we should be clear in our distinction
between what information exists in the
environment and what the child is
potentially able to process. The exam-
ple used of poor visual acuity found in
the newborn baby (Hendrickson &
Drucker, 1992) is a pertinent reminder
of the initial biological restrictions for
processing such stimuli in early devel-
opment. It has been suggested that
such early limitations in processing
may be crucial in the mastery of
complex stimuli (Elman, 1993).
The speed and scale of the changes
that occur subsequently emphasise a
key property of a learning system in
the progressive course of develop-
ment-plasticity. This demand-based
flexibility gives children the potential
to reach an end-state proficiency that
supersedes learning in adults. Here,
relationships can be drawn between
the cognitive and the brain level. For
example at the cognitive level, in
language, the ability of children to
learn phonological discriminations for
contrasts outside their own language is
superior to that of adults (McCandliss,
Fiez, Protopapas, Conway, & McClel-
land, 2002).
In terms of functional brain devel-
opment, there are definitely clear
windows of opportunity or ‘sensitive
periods’ where plasticity enables
a domain to be acquired to its
maximal potential. Views regarding
the regulation of sensitive periods
differ. Changes in plasticity may not
occur according to some form of
biological timetable but may also be
a result of achieving functional specia-
lisation (Johnson, 2005). At the struc-
tural level, the age at which a second
language is acquired has been linked
with region-specific increases in
grey-matter density and second-lan-
guage proficiency (Mechelli, Crinion,
Noppeney, O’Doherty, Ashburner,
Frackowaik, & Price, 2004).
Differences in brain structure are
also of relevance when considering
developmental disorders. Here, Kagan
Copyright # 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Book Reviews
and Herschkowitz point to Autism as
an example, where studies have found
anomalies at both the anatomical and
the neurological level. Such anomalies
are likely to prove significant in terms
of Autistic symptoms. However, given
that Autism is a spectrum disorder,
these differences are unlikely to be
uniform or indeed present in all of
those diagnosed with Autism. Further-
more, for children with Autism inter-
vention through education is also a
contributory factor for consideration in
terms of overall prognosis (Happé and
Frith, 1996).
In sum, Kagan and Herschkowitz
aim to combine milestones in brain
and cognitive development, with the
potential contribution of biological
factors taking the limelight, particu-
larly in the early Chapters of the book.
The authors present their case that
changes in anatomy and physiology
are crucial in understanding beha-
viour, and from this perspective the
discussion of prenatal and early deve-
lopment is particularly engaging. The
aim of this book is to combine the new
with the reader’s existing knowledge,
and by taking this on-board the major-
ity should find a number of revealing
and enlightening links. From this book
it is clear that in order to understand
development we need to embrace a
multidisciplinary approach}our ques-
tions cannot be resolved within the
confines of a solitary discipline.
REFERENCES
Elman, J. (1993). Learning and development
in neural networks: The importance of
starting small. Cognition, 48, 71–99.
Happé, F., & Frith, U. (1996). The neuro-
psychology of autism. Brain, 119,
1377–1400.
Hendrickson, A., & Drucker, D. (1992). The
development of parafoveal and mid-
peripheral human retina. Behavioural
Brain Research, 49, 21–31.
Johnson, M. H. (2005). Sensitive periods in
functional brain development. Problems
Inf. Child Dev. 15: 555–559 (2006)
Book Reviews
and prospects. Developmental Psychobiol-
ogy, 46, 287–292.
Karmiloff-Smith, A. (1998). Development
itself is the key to understanding
developmental disorders. Trends in Cog-
nitive Sciences, 2, 389–398.
McCandliss, B. D., Fiez, J. A., Protopapas,
A., Conway, M., & McClelland, J. L.
(2002). Success and failure in teaching
the [r]-[l] contrast to Japanese: Predic-
tions of a Hebbian model of plasticity
and stabalization in spoken language
perception. Cognitive, Affective and Beha-
vioral Neuroscience, 2, 89–108.
SILENT NIGHTS: OVERCOMING
SLEEP PROBLEMS IN BABIES AND
CHILDREN.
Brian Symon. Oxford University Press:
Oxford, 1998. pp. 200. Price: £10.99;
$24.95. ISBN 0195506073.
This easy-to-read guide is written for
parents, and although much of it is
aimed at parents of young babies, there
is much to commend it to those with
older children. It presents itself as ‘not
a scientific book, but a collection of
hints’ (p. 2), and as such appears to be
firmly aimed at the (very large) market
in self-help, advice and guidance for
parents.
The book is divided into short
chapters which are designed to be
dipped into or disregarded as required.
Interestingly, the first two chapters
concentrate not on sleep but on feeding
issues. Simple but clear, common-sense
advice on the indicators that a baby is
satisfied, on enhancing breast milk
quality, and on alternative strategies if
breast milk volumes are inadequate,
is presented in a non-judgmental
and easy-to-grasp way, and this
approach is continued in the next
chapter discussing the introduction of
solid food.
Basic principles behind healthy
and unhealthy sleep patterns, cues
Copyright # 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
557
Mechelli, A., Crinion, J. T., Noppeney, U.,
O’Doherty, J., Ashburner, J. Frackowiak,
R. S., & Price, C. J. (2004) Structural
plasticity in the bilingual brain. Nature,
431, 757.
Slater, A., Morison, V., & Somers, M. (1988).
Orientation discrimination and cortical
function in the human newborn. Percep-
tion, 17, 597–602.
Fiona Richardson
Birkbeck College, University of London, UK
DOI: 10.1002/icd.487
for achieving sleep, and behavioural
issues related to healthy sleep training
are then discussed. The important
point is made that ‘[a]chieving sleep
is usefully regarded as a learned skill’
(p. 32), one of the key principles in
sleep training (arguably for parents as
well as for the child). Perhaps this
could have been emphasized more,
along with the importance of consis-
tency in applying the principles
and the fact that the child needs to
learn to sleep alone, as this crucial
aspect initially receives just a passing
mention.
Once general principles have been
outlined, the book considers specific
sleep problems and the practicalities
of establishing a sleep routine (includ-
ing a helpful outline of what could
be expected in terms of different
age children in a format which, in
my experience, parents find very re-
assuring) before summarizing the prin-
ciples so far in a succinct chapter of
‘Essential Advice’. Particularly useful
here was the distinction between par-
ent-dependent and parent-indepen-
dent cues for promoting sleep. The
book then goes on to deal specifically
with newborn babies and their first
few weeks, and then with older chil-
dren up to the age of 2.
Specific chapters deal with daytime
sleep and dreams and nightmares,
Inf. Child Dev. 15: 555–559 (2006)