Originally published in 1981, this title is a collection of chapters based on papers presented at a conference called to explore what the editors called a developmental–interaction point of view – an approach to developmental psychology and education that stresses these interactive and reciprocal relations. The contributors, although from diverse professional backgrounds, are united in their commitment to an integrative view of developmental phenomena, one that highlights relationships among different aspects of development and the reciprocal nature of relations between people and their environments.

Originally published in 1984, this was the first volume on this topic to appear in an emerging area of study at the time. The editors were selective in choosing their contributions to the volume to ensure that both the developmental and neuropsychological domains were well represented. One of the major goals was to foster greater contact and cross-fertilization between subdisciplines that they firmly believed should be more intimately connected. The result is this title, which can now be enjoyed in its historical context.

Originally published in 1980, this title considers the relationship between feeling able to cope and being able to learn – that is, the interdependence of affect and cognition in children under five. It argues that in order to make full use of his cognitive capacities the child must first develop the belief that he is able to cope and be effective. When the child enters school at the age of five his behaviour will reflect the influence of various important developmental factors. It is only by understanding the nature of the interactions of these influences that one can sympathetically appreciate and, if necessary, modify the child’s perception of the situation with which he is faced. The argument presented follows the discrete strands of development which form the plait of individual differential perception and draws upon the case of work of clinicians using psychoanalytic concepts, experimental investigations of infants and children, naturalistic observations and longitudinal studies, since it is believed that these contemporary, yet distinct, approaches draw attention to different aspects of the multifaceted human child. As such the book was both a useful survey of this important complex field of study at the time and is still a stimulating contribution to the debate.

Originally published in 1992, this title came out of a conference on emotion and cognition as antecedents and consequences of health and disease processes in children and adolescents. The theoretical rationale for the conference was based on the assumption that the development of emotion, cognition, health and illness are processes that influence each other through the lifespan and that these reciprocal interactions begin in infancy. The chapters discuss developmental theories, research and implications for interventions as they relate to promoting health, preventing disease, and treating illness in children and adolescents.

Originally published in 1986, this book was an effort to integrate thinking and research concerning the role of emotion and cognition in altruistic behaviour. Prior to publication there was a vast body of research and theorizing concerning the development and maintenance of prosocial (including altruistic) behaviour. This book focusses primarily on a specific set of intrapsychic factors involved in prosocial responding, especially emotions and cognitions believed to play a major role in altruistic behaviour. In the final chapters these intrapsychic factors are also discussed in relation to a variety of other relevant factors including socialization and situational influences on altruism.

Emotional Development from Infancy to Adolescence: Pathways to Emotional Competence and Emotional Problems offers a chapter-by-chapter introductory survey of all aspects of emotional development from infancy to adolescence, from delight, surprise and love to anger, distress and fear. Taking a chronological approach, each chapter focuses on a specific emotion and covers the theories and research relating to its development, from infants’ emotional capabilities to the changes in self-understanding and self-conscious emotions of adolescence. Hay integrates the approaches of classic developmental differentiation and differential emotions theory to create a comprehensive textbook with a unique approach to the subject matter, showcasing a range of research linking emotions to biological underpinnings and early experiences. This wide-ranging book also includes coverage of differences in temperament, developmental psychopathology, emotion regulation and development of emotional understanding, and attachment. It is core reading for students of developmental psychology, health psychology, child welfare and social work, as well as anyone taking a course on social and emotional development courses. It will also be of interest to practitioners working in educational and clinical psychology and child psychiatry.

The problem of development is central in the study of emotional life for two basic reasons. First, emotional life so clearly changes (dramatically in the early years) with new emotional reactions emerging against the backdrop of an increasing sensitivity to context and with self-regulation of emotion emerging from a striking dependence on regulatory assistance from caregivers. Such changes demand developmental analysis. At the same time, understanding such profound changes will surely inform our understanding of the nature of development more generally. The complexity of emotional change, when grasped, will reveal the elusive nature of development itself. At the outset, we know that development is complex. We must take seriously what is present at any given phase, including the newborn period, because a developmental analysis disallows something emerging from noth ing. Still, it is equally nondevelopmental to posit that new forms of new processes were simply present in their precursors. Rather, development is characterized by transformations in which more complex structures and organization "emerge" from new integration of prior components and new capacities. These new forms and organizations cannot be specified from prior conditions but are due to transactions of the evolving organism with its environment over time. They are not simply in the genome, and they are not simply conditioned by the environment. They are the result of the develop mental process.