Michael Lewis (psychologist)
Encyclopedia
Michael Lewis is University Distinguished professor of Pediatrics and Psychiatry, and Director of the Institute for the Study of Child Development at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School
– University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey
. He is also Professor of Psychology, Education, and Biomedical Engineering at Rutgers University
and serves on the Executive Committee of the Cognitive Science Center at Rutgers.
In his 1979 book, Social Cognition and the Acquisition of Self, he began the research on the use of mirror recognition. His 1983 book, Children's Emotions and Moods, was the first volume devoted to emotional development, and his Handbook of Emotions (1993) was awarded the 1995 Choice Magazine’s Outstanding Academic Book Award. Through his pioneering efforts in both theory and measurement, Dr. Lewis has been one of the leaders in the study of emotional development. His 1992 book, Shame: The Exposed Self, continued his interest in emotional development, turning attention to the little studied areas of self-conscious emotions.
In his book, Altering Fate: Why The Past Does Not Predict The Future (1997), a finalist for the 1998 Eleanor Maccoby Book Award, Lewis attempted to describe various developmental theories and argues for the proposition that early childhood does not seal one's fate. Professor Lewis argues that children's environments, at whatever age, determine how children behave, and he suggests that altering environments should be the major task in effecting social adjustment and mental health.
Besides Children's Emotions and Moods, Shame: The Exposed Self, Altering Fate: Why The Past Does Not Predict the Future, Social Cognition and the Acquisition of Self (1979) and Language Interaction Intervention Program: A Workshop Curriculum for Parent Training (1991), Dr. Lewis has authored four research monographs as well as 31 edited books, the most recent of which are the Handbook of Developmental Psychopathology (2000) and an Introduction to Infant Development (2007). In addition, he has had published over 350 articles and chapters in professional journals and scholarly texts.
Robert Wood Johnson Medical School
Robert Wood Johnson Medical School is a public medical school located in Piscataway and New Brunswick, New Jersey, and one of the eight schools of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey . In cooperation with Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, the medical school’s principal...
– University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey
University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey
The University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey is the state-run health sciences institution of New Jersey, United States. It has eight distinct academic units...
. He is also Professor of Psychology, Education, and Biomedical Engineering at Rutgers University
Rutgers University
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey , is the largest institution for higher education in New Jersey, United States. It was originally chartered as Queen's College in 1766. It is the eighth-oldest college in the United States and one of the nine Colonial colleges founded before the American...
and serves on the Executive Committee of the Cognitive Science Center at Rutgers.
Research
His research has focused on normal and deviant emotional and intellectual development. By focusing on the normal course of development, he has been able to articulate the sequence of developmental capacities of the child in regard to its intellectual growth and relate this to changes in the organization of its central nervous system functioning. His discoveries of techniques to measure CNS functioning, through the use of the habituation-dishabituation paradigm, are widely used throughout the country and have become the standard measurement system used to predict dysfunctional growth as well as normal development. Using these measurement instruments, he has been able to develop computer-based techniques for enhancing intellectual ability in children suffering from a variety of disorders associated with retardation. These include children with Down syndrome, preterm infants, and children with cerebral palsy.In his 1979 book, Social Cognition and the Acquisition of Self, he began the research on the use of mirror recognition. His 1983 book, Children's Emotions and Moods, was the first volume devoted to emotional development, and his Handbook of Emotions (1993) was awarded the 1995 Choice Magazine’s Outstanding Academic Book Award. Through his pioneering efforts in both theory and measurement, Dr. Lewis has been one of the leaders in the study of emotional development. His 1992 book, Shame: The Exposed Self, continued his interest in emotional development, turning attention to the little studied areas of self-conscious emotions.
In his book, Altering Fate: Why The Past Does Not Predict The Future (1997), a finalist for the 1998 Eleanor Maccoby Book Award, Lewis attempted to describe various developmental theories and argues for the proposition that early childhood does not seal one's fate. Professor Lewis argues that children's environments, at whatever age, determine how children behave, and he suggests that altering environments should be the major task in effecting social adjustment and mental health.
Besides Children's Emotions and Moods, Shame: The Exposed Self, Altering Fate: Why The Past Does Not Predict the Future, Social Cognition and the Acquisition of Self (1979) and Language Interaction Intervention Program: A Workshop Curriculum for Parent Training (1991), Dr. Lewis has authored four research monographs as well as 31 edited books, the most recent of which are the Handbook of Developmental Psychopathology (2000) and an Introduction to Infant Development (2007). In addition, he has had published over 350 articles and chapters in professional journals and scholarly texts.