Scholarly Books

Cummings, E. Mark Developmental, Patrick T. Davies and Susan B. Campbell. Psychopathology and Family Process: Theory, Research, and Clinical Implications. 2000.

Dowling, Marion. Young Children's Personal, Social, and Emotional Development. 2000.

Downer, Rosemarie T. Homelessness and its Consequences: The Impact on Children's Psychological Well-being. 2001.

Harkness, Sara, Catherine Raeff and Charles M. Super, eds. Variability in the Social Construction of the Child. 2000.

Papolos, Demitri F. MD and Janice Papolos. The Bipolar Child: The Definitive and Reassuring Guide to Childhood's Most Misunderstood Disorder. 2000.

Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry and Allied Disciplines

Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology

The American Psychologist

Biographical Dictionary of Psychology. New York: Routledge, 1997.

The Family Encyclopedia of Child Psychology and Development. New York: Wiley, 1992.

Encyclopedia of Psychology. Washington, D.C.: American Psychological Association ; Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press, 2000.

Encyclopedia of Social Work. New York: National Association of Social Workers, 1997.

Handbook of Clinical Child Psychology. 3rd ed. New York: Wiley, 2001.

Handbook of Psychological and Educational Assessment of Children. New York: Guilford Press, 1990

Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association. 5th ed. Washington, D.C.: American Psychological Association, 2001.

Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders: DSM-IV. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association, 1994.

PsychINFO

The Research Process

Child psychologists adapt the theories of renowned scholars to their own research. They also use the measurement tools as standards to judge the behavior and development of the children they study and treat. As a true social science, child psychology relies heavily on observation, data collection and experimentation. Child psychologists observe children in different environments, use play therapy to elicit responses, conduct experiments and use the data of other psychologists. In addition, as child psychologists deal with a challenging population that may not be able to express their feelings and needs, they often rely on the observations of parents and teachers. This allows psychologists to gain a complete understanding of the child's specific needs and difficulties.

The classic works that influence modern child psychologists, originated from the studies and experiments of groundbreaking scholars as well as the early applications of psychotherapy with children. Child psychologists also use the measurement tools developed by these scholars, such as Erickson's eight stages of development and the Stanford-Binet intelligence test, as well as more recent contributions, such as the DSM-IV and the highly specific scales for mental illnesses.

Child psychologists generate scholarly monographs. Both clinical and research psychologists publish articles in scholarly journals. The journals drive advancements in the field considerably as they represent the main format where scholars can publish their latest findings. Child psychologists may contribute essays to reference tools. Additionally, they present papers at major conferences, which may later become published.