What is Child Psychology?
According to the late Professor Rudolph Schaffer, an eminent figure in the field, child psychology is the scientific study of children's behavior and development. It follows, therefore that a child psychologist attempts to describe and explain children's behavior and the way it changes over time.
In essence, the aim of child psychology is to assemble an objective knowledge base that can provide insight into both the nature of childhood generally as well as the distinctive characteristics of individual children.
Clinical Child Psychology
"Clinical child psychology is a specialty in professional psychology that develops and applies scientific knowledge to the delivery of psychological services to infants, toddlers, children and adolescents within their social context."
(American Psychological Association.)
Topic areas addressed within clinical child psychology include:
Emotional Development
Mental Disorder
Cognitive Functioning
Developmental change
Thought-provoking talk by Nadine Burke Harris on how childhood trauma affects health across a lifetime.
Inhibited Children Become Anxious Adults: Examining the Causes and Effects of Early Shyness
CLICK HERE to read a great article on research examining the causes and effects of early shyness.
Understanding Anxiety in Children
CLICK HERE to read a great article on research attempting to understand anxiety in children through eye tracking.