Recent advances in neuroscience have allowed researchers from various disciplines--developmental psychology, comparative psychology, and developmental psychopathology--to shed light on the neural systems involved in social engagement behaviors in both children and adults. The Development of Social Engagement presents the latest on the topic from each of these intersecting research areas. Developmental psychologists have long been interested in the constellation of behaviors that constitutes early social engagement in infants and young children. Renewed interest in this topic has been sparked by research applying new and innovative techniques to long-standing questions about the development of face processing, joint attention, language, and early social cognition. These developments have been mirrored by the growth of comparative work concerning the neurobiological correlates and determinants of social engagement behaviors across a range of non-human species. The chapters in this volume bring together work on all of these topics, including questions related to social systems, play, maternal behavior, and evolutionary concerns. The volume also covers the recent application of rigorous biologically focused research paradigms to the study of atypical social engagement in children, both in terms of disorders such as autism and Williams Syndrome, and in terms of the effects of adverse early rearing environments (e.g., institutionalization). This book presents some of the latest research on social-engagement processes across a variety of disciplines that cover a range of life stages and species. It will provides both student and professional researchers with a taste of current researchdirections in this rapidly expanding field.

Psychologists mainly working in development or education investigate the beginnings of social activity in infants and young children and in other species. They consider biological approaches, neural bases of infants' processing of social information in faces, the social dimension in language learning, the neurobiology of maternal behavior in mammals, evolutionary perspectives, autism, the psychological effects of early institutional rearing, and other topics.
Annotation ©2006 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Psychologists mainly working in development or education investigate the beginnings of social activity in infants and young children and in other species. They consider biological approaches, neural bases of infants' processing of social information in faces, the social dimension in language learning, the neurobiology of maternal behavior in mammals, evolutionary perspectives, autism, the psychological effects of early institutional rearing, and other topics. Annotation ©2006 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

"This fine collection of contemporary studies of social phenomena in animals and children--healthy and biologically compromised--brings emotions and social concepts out of the shadows, and into the positions of prominence they must have for satisfying explanations of psychological events."--Jerome Kagan, Professor of Psychology, Harvard University

"The concept of 'social engagement' is transforming how science studies the development of affective and cognitive processes. This volume provides a collection of papers by international experts focused on how social engagement drives processes that cross the classic boundary between the development of affect and cognition."--Stephen W. Porges, Director, Brain-Body Center and Department of Psychiatry, University of Illinois at Chicago

"...covers a significant breadth of information; the pertinent literature is reviewed, new research presented, and hypotheses suggested to explain many aspects of developing social competence. Although this book focuses primarily on social and emotional development, it also presents an intriguing perspective on cognitive development, particularly with regard to the interaction between cognition, emotion, and social engagement."--PsycCRITIQUES

The Development of Social Engagement, edited by Peter J. Marshall and Nathan A. Fox, brings together some of the latest research on social engagement processes across a range of life stages and species. The opening chapters provide overviews of cutting-edge research on social engagement in areas such as temperament, face processing, joint attention, language development, and early social cognition in humans. Subsequent chapters address questions related to biological determinants of social systems, play, and maternal behavior across a variety of species, as well as evolutionary issues associated with social engagement. Finally, a number of chapters examine the application of rigorous biologically focused research paradigms to the study of atypical social engagement in children. Atypical social engagement is framed in terms of disorders such as autism and Williams Syndrome, as well as in the effects of adverse early rearing environments such as institutions. This volume will be a valuable guide for those interested in a neurobiological approach to the study of social development. It provides an introduction to current research directions in this rapidly expanding field for both student and professional researchers in developmental psychology, comparative psychology, and developmental psychopathology.

1. Biological Approaches to the Study of Social Engagement,Peter J. Marshall and Nathan A. Fox

2. Temperamental Exuberance: Correlates and Consequences, Cindy P. Polak-Toste and Megan R. Gunnar

3. Neural Bases of Infants' Processing of Social Information in Faces, Michelle de Haan and Margriet Groen

4. Joint Attention, Social Engagement and the Development of Social Competence,Peter Mundy and C. Francoise Acra

5. The Social Dimension in Language Development: A Rich History and a New Frontier, Shannon M. Pruden, Kathy Hirsh-Pasek and Roberta Michnick Golinkoff;

6. Neuro-cognitive bases of preschoolers' theory-of-mind development: Integrating cognitive neuroscience and cognitive development, Mark A. Sabbagh

7. The Neurobiology of Social Bonds and Affiliation, Miranda M. Lim and Larry J. Young

8. The Neurobiology of Maternal Behavior in Mammals, Frederic Levy and Alison S. Fleming

9. Play and the development of social engagement.,Sergio M. Pellis and Vivien C. Pellis

10. Evolutionary Perspectives on Social Engagement, Heidi Keller and Athanasios Chasiotis

11. Understanding impairments in social engagement in autismRaphael Bernier, Sara Jane Webb, and Geraldine Dawson

12. Social Engagement in Williams Syndrome,Helen Tager-Flusberg and Daniela Plesa-Skwerer

13. The psychological effects of early institutional rearing, Michael Rutter