David Elkind Paper

Psychologist and educator David Elkind was born in 1931 in Detroit, Michigan. He and his family moved to California when he was an adolescent. He received the Bachelor of Arts from the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) in 1952, and his Doctorate in Philosophy (Ph.D.) from UCLA in 1955. He also received an honorary Doctorate in Science from Rhode Island College in 1987. After receiving his Ph.D., Elkind was a research assistant to David Rappaport at the Austen Riggs Center in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. There he was first exposed to the research and theory of Jean Piaget. From 1964 to 1965, Elkind was a national Science Foundation Senior Postdoctoral Fellow at Piaget's Institut d'Epistemologie Genetique in Geneva, Switzerland. Elkind's research has focused on cognitive, perceptual, and social development in children and adolescents, as well as the causes and effects of stress on children, adolescents, and families. Throughout all of his work, Elkind has tried to apply theory and research to real life arenas, such as psychotherapy, parenting, and education. And he uses real life experiences to shape his theory and research. One of Elkind's most well-known contributions to psychology is his work on adolescent psychology in which he expands on Piaget's description of adolescent egocentrism (difficulty in distinguishing between the mental occupations of the self and those of other people). Elkind looked at how this egocentrism affects adolescent thought, behavior, and emotion. Another aspect of Elkind's work has been his focus on learning and healthy development. He believes that children need to have many and varied experiences to develop in a healthy way, and that this is also necessary for children to truly learn about and understand things. Elkind thinks parents pushing their infants and children to learn at earlier and earlier ages does not allow a child time to have the "rich" experiences necessary to absorb and learn in a deep and