I asked last week about a dev psych book for a student and ended giving her the book about the 50 or so myths and misconceptions about child development (by Jean Mercer?). I don't have it, because she has it right now, so even though I thought parts of it were a bit overdone (some conclusions beyond the data) it's an OK book and she is enjoying it.
Here is a question she now has for me: ========================================================= I'm really enjoying the child development book! I'm on around the third chapter, which is about autism, and it made me really really curious as to whether autism has been reliably proven to have any sort of environmental cause? The book addresses the subject broadly but didn't really say anything conclusive. I'm not sure whether this is "up your alley," so to speak, but I thought it was worth a try! =========================================================== It's not up my alley and as far as I know there is no such demonstrated link. (Yes, I'm working on the word "prove" with this class! It's on the next exam.) I did email her back with caution about correlational data. But I thought someone on the list might know. I'm also leary to give her too much that might confuse the correlation does not equal causation issue. But any info would be appreciated as it's hard to find NON-relationships in the literature. Annette Annette Kujawski Taylor, Ph.D. Professor of Psychology University of San Diego 5998 Alcala Park San Diego, CA 92110 619-260-4006 [email protected] --- To make changes to your subscription contact: Bill Southerly ([email protected])
