Early Experiences and Early Behavior

Early Experiences and Early Behavior: Implications for Social Development discusses the problems associated with determining the effects of early experiences on later behavior, with emphasis on social development, both in humans and in animals. The overall approach is one of constructive criticism, in that specific problems in methodology and conceptualization are highlighted and promising new approaches are suggested and illustrated. The book is divided into two parts. Part I deals with methodological, theoretical, and conceptual problems: Recurring problems of methodology and definition are specified; a thorough review of the animal literature in early experiences studies over the past quarter of a century pinpoints certain areas of progress among many other areas where advances have been sparse; and two newer approaches are discussed and supported, namely behavioral metamorphosis and the interactional-developmental approach. Part II presents two case studies which serve to exemplify a variety of older and newer approaches to the investigation of the effects of early experiences on social development.