Jean Mercer - Child Development: Myths and Misunderstandings

Host: Karen Stollznow

This week’s guest is Jean Mercer, a Developmental Psychologist and Professor Emerita at Richard Stockton College. She is the author of the new book Child Development: Myths and Misunderstandings.

Jean writes the blog "Child Myths", and along with Penn Jillette and Richard Dawkins, she is a co-author of Parenting Beyond Belief: On Raising Ethical, Caring Kids Without Religion. Jean is also a contributor and Consulting Editor to the Center for Inquiry’s journal, the Scientific Review of Mental Health Practice.

In this interview with Karen Stollznow, Jean talks about the developing field of developmental psychology. Jean jokes that "studying child development isn’t rocket science…it’s a lot more complicated than that!" This is an area that is fraught with myths, mistakes and misconceptions; Jean explains how these develop and the often serious repercussions.

Jean discusses the importance of critical thinking about child development. Pseudoscientific therapies often have the semblance of science, so what information can we trust? Jean talks about the emphasis on evidence-based practice in developmental psychology, and why we have to think critically about that too.