The Beginnings

The earliest attempts to understand child development date back to the late eighteenth century. They took the form of daily, repeated observations conducted in the home environment by parents (more often the father than the mother) who were motivated by scientific and philosophical interests. The practice of child observation was an Enlightenment imperative: parents, doctors, and experts were tasked with observing the child and gathering information. In this pioneering phase of child psychology, based on the diachronic observation of a single child, in which there was no distinction between the role of parent and that of scientist, Italian scholars were absent. To the reasons for this absence, I will return later; for now we must look to other European countries if we are to grasp the beginnings of the child study movement.