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The Growth of the Mind: And the Endangered Origins of Intelligence
This compelling book reveals the six fundamental levels that form the architecture of our minds. The growth of these levels, four of which are deeper even than the unconscious, depends on a series of critical but subtle emotional transactions between an infant and a devoted caregiver. In mapping these interactions, Dr. Greenspan formulates the elusive building blocks of creative and analytic thinking and provides an exciting missing link between recent discoveries in neuroscience and the qualities that make us most fully human. He also sounds a warning: these mind-building experiences are being eroded in child-rearing and educational practices. He offers specific solutions to restoring them in families, daycare, schools and in social policy.
384 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1997
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510 people want to read
About the author
Stanley I. Greenspan
71 books28 followershttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanley...
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Stanley Greenspan (June 1, 1941 – April 27, 2010)[1] was an American child psychiatrist and clinical professor of Psychiatry, Behavioral Science, and Pediatrics at George Washington University Medical School. He was best known for developing the floortime approach for attempting to treat children with autistic spectrum disorders and developmental disabilities.[2]
He was Chairman of the Interdisciplinary Council on Developmental and Learning Disorders and also a Supervising Child Psychoanalyst at the Washington Psychoanalytic Institute. A graduate of Harvard College and Yale Medical School,[2] Greenspan was the founding president of Zero to Three: National Center for Infants, Toddlers, and Families and former director of the National Institute of Mental Health's Clinical Infant Developmental Program and Mental Health Study Center.[3]
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Stanley Greenspan (June 1, 1941 – April 27, 2010)[1] was an American child psychiatrist and clinical professor of Psychiatry, Behavioral Science, and Pediatrics at George Washington University Medical School. He was best known for developing the floortime approach for attempting to treat children with autistic spectrum disorders and developmental disabilities.[2]
He was Chairman of the Interdisciplinary Council on Developmental and Learning Disorders and also a Supervising Child Psychoanalyst at the Washington Psychoanalytic Institute. A graduate of Harvard College and Yale Medical School,[2] Greenspan was the founding president of Zero to Three: National Center for Infants, Toddlers, and Families and former director of the National Institute of Mental Health's Clinical Infant Developmental Program and Mental Health Study Center.[3]
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
July 25, 2011
Greenspan presents a convincing argument for the emotional foundations of intelligence and the emergence of the self. In the second half of this book he explores the implications of this model for society including social policy, education and even foreign policy. An ambitious and at times perhaps far reaching effort. Nevertheless I have a lot of respect for Greenspan's synthesis of neuropsychological development and psychoanalytic theory. His perspective as a specialist in autistic disorders lends an authenticity to his model as this population highlights the interface of neurodevelopmental challenges and emotional development. I am "a fan" of Stanley Greenspan.
June 19, 2018
Recommended for parents, educators, policymakers of all kinds, and anyone who cares about the intellectual level and emotional health of all people, especially the upcoming generations.
I expected this to be another book on the evolution of intelligence. Instead, it turns out to be about how individuals acquire intelligence, some of the things that can hinder this acquisition, and a few suggestions as to what we can do about it.
The authors list and explain six stages in the early mental development of children, beginning from their very earliest interactions with their parents or other caregivers and how these form the foundations for all later stages of emotional and intellectual development. They talk about how even children who are cognitively impaired in some way (such as autistic children) or who suffer from early neglect or deprivation can, with proper remedial stimulation, be brought to higher levels of mental and emotional functioning than would have been thought previously.
They describe the ill effects of allowing the lack of proper relationships early in childhood to impair a child’s emotional, social, and intellectual development, and the implications of this in the areas of societal violence and mental health. They point out how a developmental approach to mental health can improve outcomes for many people even after they are grown. Apparently, it is not too late for emotional growth to take place in many areas of life even after people are grown if they can find the right kind of interactions.
They also talk about the implications at the level of nations – which forms of government are indicative of what the level of development of most of the people of a country is and the effect in international relations when the majority of adults in a given country are not fully functioning well-developed people. There is also extensive discussion of some of the problems – some old, some of more recent development – standing in the way of children being allowed to develop emotionally in their very early years.
I expected this to be another book on the evolution of intelligence. Instead, it turns out to be about how individuals acquire intelligence, some of the things that can hinder this acquisition, and a few suggestions as to what we can do about it.
The authors list and explain six stages in the early mental development of children, beginning from their very earliest interactions with their parents or other caregivers and how these form the foundations for all later stages of emotional and intellectual development. They talk about how even children who are cognitively impaired in some way (such as autistic children) or who suffer from early neglect or deprivation can, with proper remedial stimulation, be brought to higher levels of mental and emotional functioning than would have been thought previously.
They describe the ill effects of allowing the lack of proper relationships early in childhood to impair a child’s emotional, social, and intellectual development, and the implications of this in the areas of societal violence and mental health. They point out how a developmental approach to mental health can improve outcomes for many people even after they are grown. Apparently, it is not too late for emotional growth to take place in many areas of life even after people are grown if they can find the right kind of interactions.
They also talk about the implications at the level of nations – which forms of government are indicative of what the level of development of most of the people of a country is and the effect in international relations when the majority of adults in a given country are not fully functioning well-developed people. There is also extensive discussion of some of the problems – some old, some of more recent development – standing in the way of children being allowed to develop emotionally in their very early years.
February 1, 2010
3.75 stars. Brief (lazy) review: I love Greenspan's work with emotional engagement. I found his final two chapters less engaging and insightful. Overall, good stuff. No need to slam Piaget, though, just say you are building on his work.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews