science

The Nature of the Child

The Nature of the Child is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand The Nature of the Child rather than just read about it. In short: The Nature of the Child is a 1984 book by American psychologist Jerome Kagan. In a series of essays, Kagan challenges beliefs in child rearing and developmental psychology, namely that negative or positive attachments to parents necessarily results in a child's wellbeing as they mature.

Key takeaways

The Nature of the Child belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect The Nature of the Child to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of The Nature of the Child from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The Nature of the Child is a 1984 book by American psychologist Jerome Kagan. In a series of essays, Kagan challenges beliefs in child rearing and developmental psychology, namely that negative or positive attachments to parents necessarily results in a child's wellbeing as they mature. Kagan argues that such beliefs are unsupported and that a child's temperament relies more on biology and cognitive development.

References Notes

Sources

Commentary and reviews

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with The Nature of the Child

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what The Nature of the Child claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to The Nature of the Child before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about The Nature of the Child ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of The Nature of the Child

In research: The Nature of the Child appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses The Nature of the Child in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: The Nature of the Child is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1984 non-fiction books, Basic Books books, Books about mental health, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for The Nature of the Child outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study The Nature of the Child in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what The Nature of the Child means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain The Nature of the Child out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is The Nature of the Child in simple terms?

Why does The Nature of the Child matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study The Nature of the Child?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on The Nature of the Child.