Entering the Child's Mind
The Clinical Interview In Psychological Research and Practice

This is the first comprehensive treatment of the theory and practice of the clinical interview method.

Herbert P. Ginsburg (Author)

9780521498036, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 28 November 1997

296 pages, 1 b/w illus. 5 maps 1 table
22.6 x 15.2 x 2 cm, 0.4 kg

'Ginsburg's excellent account of the clinical interview should appeal to anyone who works, or is thinking of working with children.' Janine Spencer, London Guildhall University

Entering the Child's Mind teaches a powerful technique for gaining insight into a child's way of thinking. In the tradition of Piaget and Vygotsky, Dr Herbert P. Ginsburg argues that standardized instruments of evaluation often fail to meet the challenges of complex cognition. He presents the 'clinical interview' as a powerful tool that, when understood and used properly, can provide psychologists with a profound appreciation for children's thinking. Dr Ginsburg aims to convince the reader that the method has important applications in research, clinical practice, and education. The clinical interview offers a degree of flexibility that allows psychologists to more closely assess the thinking of a particular child.

1. The need to move beyond standardized methods
2. What is the clinical interview? Where did it come from? Why do it?
3. What happens in the clinical interview
4. Not a cookbook: guidelines for conducting a clinical interview
5. Evaluating clinical interviews: how good are they
6. Towards the future: the clinical interview and the curriculum
Appendix.

Subject Areas: Child & developmental psychology [JMC]