Laura E. Berk is a distinguished professor of psychology at
Illinois State University, where she has taught child, adolescent,
and lifespan development for more than three decades.
She received her bachelor’s degree in psychology from the
University of California, Berkeley, and her master’s and doctoral
degrees in child development and educational psychology from the
University of Chicago. She has been a visiting scholar at Cornell
University, UCLA, Stanford University, and the University of South
Australia.
Berk has published widely on the effects of school environments on
children’s development, the development of private speech, and the
role of make-believe play in development. Her empirical studies
have attracted the attention of the general public, leading to
contributions to Psychology Today and Scientific American. She has
also been featured on National Public Radio’s Morning Edition and
in Parents Magazine, Wondertime, and Reader’s Digest.
Berk has served as a research editor of Young Children, a
consulting editor for Early Childhood Research Quarterly, and as an
associate editor of the Journal of Cognitive Education and
Psychology. She is a frequent contributor to edited volumes, having
written the article on social development in The Child: An
Encyclopedic Companion and the article on Vygotsky in The
Encyclopedia of Cognitive Science. She is coauthor of the chapter
on make-believe play and self-regulation in the Sage Handbook of
Play in Early Childhood, and the chapter on psychologists writing
textbooks in Career Paths in Psychology: Where Your Degree Can Take
You, published by the American Psychological Association.
Berk’s books include Private Speech: From Social Interaction to
Self-Regulation; Scaffolding Children’s Learning: Vygotsky and
Early Childhood Education; A Mandate for Playful Learning in
Preschool: Presenting the Evidence; and Awakening Children’s Minds:
How Parents and Teachers Can Make a Difference. In addition to
Exploring Child and Adolescent Development, she is author of the
best-selling texts Child Development, Infants, Children, and
Adolescents, and Development Through the Lifespan, published by
Pearson.
Berk is active in work for children’s causes. She serves on the
governing boards of the Illinois Network of Child Care Resource and
Referral Agencies and of Artolution, an organization devoted to
engaging children, youths, and families in collaborative public art
projects around the world as a means of promoting trauma relief and
resilience. Berk has been designated a YWCA Woman of Distinction
for service in education. She is a fellow of the American
Psychological Association, Division 7: Developmental Psychology.
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