Freud, although best known for his elucidation of the unusual in human mental life, also attempted to illuminate ordinary human experience, such as peopleOs appreciation of humor, their capacity to be
The Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget is generally considered to be the founder of modern developmental psychology. This book, first published in 1988, provides a conceptual critique of six of Piaget's central, earlier works, including his account of the child's conception of the world, the development of morality, and the origins of intelligence in infancy. Sugarman's detailed, step-by-step analysis of some of Piaget's major arguments shows exactly where, and why, they fail. Through the same analysis she suggests the alternative lines of inquiry that might result in a clearer and more basic understanding of the child's mind and of the origins of adult thought.
The Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget is generally considered to be the founder of modern developmental psychology. This book, first published in 1988, provides a conceptual critique of six of Piaget's central, earlier works, including his account of the child's conception of the world, the development of morality, and the origins of intelligence in infancy. Sugarman's detailed, step-by-step analysis of some of Piaget's major arguments shows exactly where, and why, they fail. Through the same analysis she suggests the alternative lines of inquiry that might result in a clearer and more basic understanding of the child's mind and of the origins of adult thought.
Through an exacting yet accessible reconstruction of eleven of Freud's essential theoretical writings, Susan Sugarman demonstrates that the traditionally received Freud is the diametric opposite of the one evident in the pages of his own works. Whereas Freud's theory of the mind is typically conceived as a catalogue of uninflected concepts and crude reductionism - for instance that we are nothing but our infantile origins or sexual and aggressive instincts - it emerges here as an organic whole built from first principles and developing in sophistication over time. Sugarman's exciting interpretation, tracking Freud's texts in the order in which he wrote them, grounds his claims in the reasoning that led to them and reveals their real intent. This fresh reading will appeal to specialists and students across a variety of disciplines.
Through an exacting yet accessible reconstruction of eleven of Freud's essential theoretical writings, Susan Sugarman demonstrates that the traditionally received Freud is the diametric opposite of the one evident in the pages of his own works. Whereas Freud's theory of the mind is typically conceived as a catalogue of uninflected concepts and crude reductionism - for instance that we are nothing but our infantile origins or sexual and aggressive instincts - it emerges here as an organic whole built from first principles and developing in sophistication over time. Sugarman's exciting interpretation, tracking Freud's texts in the order in which he wrote them, grounds his claims in the reasoning that led to them and reveals their real intent. This fresh reading will appeal to specialists and students across a variety of disciplines.
During the period in which they are learning to talk, as early as the third year, children not only represent their experience, but reflect on and regulate the way in which they do so. They 'structure the way they structure things'. In this book, originally published in 1983, Susan Sugarman has attempted to observe this process at work on input other than speech sounds and to observe its consequences in behaviour other than language production. She finds that children move quickly beyond the ability to relate one thing to to another, to an ability to conceptualize the interrelationships; a major step in the development of reasoning that was overlooked by theorists of cognitive development prior to the publication of this book. The dawn of reasoning coincides with the dawn of language, but one phenomenon is not reducible to the other; each represents a significant advance toward human rationality.
