ABSTRACT
While the work of Freud and the post-Freudians, Erikson, Winnicott and Bowlby, plus Rutter’s important contribution, had been profoundly influential in the West, so that children’s emotional development in the early years became a focus of concern during the earlier part of the twentieth century (see Chapters 8, 9), other researchers and theorists began to be fascinated by intellectual, or cognitive, development. This chapter presents outlines of some of the ideas propounded by several of the key Western developmental theorists who sought to help us understand young children’s thinking. In particular, the chapter discusses the life and influence of Jean Piaget.
