The growth of the mind : An introduction to child-psychology / Kurt Koffka.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Koffka, Kurt, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Child development.

Child psychology.

Physical Description:

1 online resource

Edition:

Second edition, Revised.

Other Title:

growth of the mind

Place of Publication:

London : Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner & Co, 1928.

Summary:

I felt that I might be able to give a new and wider application to certain principles of psychological theory and research which have recently been advanced under the name of the Gestalt-Theorie, and thus might demonstrate their significance in the interpretation of childhood. In the second place, it was my belief that the teachers in the German elementary schools, for whom the book was intended, were in need of a psychology both modern and alive to the problems of the Educator. I believed it of urgent necessity that the psychological instruction usually given to teachers should be so modified as to set aside certain antiquated notions which, instead of promoting educational aims, often pervert them to such an extent that psychology is apt to become totally disregarded in educational circles. I was bold enough to believe that our new psychological principles would serve this useful purpose. And hence what I have tried to write is not so much a compendium of facts as an exposition of principles In short, I have tried to work out some of the chief principles of genetic or comparative psychology, laying special emphasis upon the evolution of the child's mind. I have adopted the plan of gathering all the notes together at the end of the volume, so that the text might have a rounded form, and also that the reader might not be disturbed in following a train of thought. In addition to references, a list of the notes contain a series of supplementary comments. In preparing this new edition of The Growth of the Mind I have done what I could to improve the book under circumstances that were not altogether favourable. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Contents:

Problem and Method

General Considerations

The Starting-point of Development: The Newborn Infant and Primitive Modes of Behaviour

Special Features of Mental Growth: A. General Statement of the Problem. How New Types of Behaviour are LearnedSpec

ial Features of Mental Growth: B. The Problem of Memory: Learning in Children

The World of a Child.

Notes:

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.