BPS Core Textbooks Series

Developed in collaboration with the British Psychological Society

Chapter 19 – Into the Dome: The Material Culture of Child Psychology

Chapter Summary

This chapter explores the material foundations of developmental psychology, focusing on how tools, technologies, and objects have shaped our understanding of the child. Beginning with a vivid historical case, namely the use of Arnold Gesell’s photographic dome at Yale, it examines how supposedly neutral scientific environments actively produce psychological knowledge. By following the history of cots, domes, toys, observation rooms, standardised tests, and other arte-facts, the chapter shows that developmental psychology is not only theoretical but fundamentally material. Figures such as Margaret Lowenfeld, John Bowlby, and Kenneth and Mamie Clark are discussed in terms of the physical cultures they created around children. The chapter introduces the critical thinking tool of material culture, highlighting how instruments of observation shape what development means. Drawing on epistemological, ontological, and power-based critiques, the chapter considers how norms of childhood have been constructed through selective sampling, biopolitical agendas, and assumptions about race, gender, and class. Ultimately, the chapter encourages students to see developmental psychology not as a passive window onto childhood but as an active participant in constructing what childhood is and ought to be.

Chapter 19 – Quiz

  • Chapter 19 – Flashcards

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  • Chapter 19 – Key Readings

    Bultman, S. (2020). Seeing inside the child: The Rorschach inkblot test as assessment technique in a girls’ reform school, 1938–1948. History of Psychology, 23(4), 312–332. https://doi.org/10.1037/hop0000167 

    Burman, E. (2017). Deconstructing developmental psychology (Third edition). Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group. 

    Gigerenzer, G. (1992). Discovery in cognitive psychology: New tools inspire new theories. Science in Context, 5(2), 329–350. doi:10.1017/S0269889700001216

    Harris, B. (2011). Arnold Gesell’s progressive vision: Child hygiene, socialism and eugenics. History of Psychology, 14(3), 311–334. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0024797 

    Moro, C. (2016). To encounter, to build the world and to become a human being. Advocating for a material-cultural turn in developmental psychology. Integrative Psychological and Behavioral Science, 50(4), 586–602. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12124-016-9356-4 

    Ossmer, C. (2020). Normal development: The photographic dome and the children of the Yale Psycho-Clinic. Isis, 111(3), 515–541. https://doi.org/10.1086/711127 

    Ratcliff, M. J. (2024). Jean Piaget and the autonomous disciples, Alina Szeminska and Bärbel Inhelder: From the “critical method” to the appropriation of research culture. History of Psychology, 27(4), 317–332. https://doi.org/10.1037/hop0000261 

    Rietmann, F. E. (2023). Mother-blaming revisited: Gender, cinematography, and infant research in the heyday of psychoanalysis. History of the Human Sciences, 37(2), 87-116. https://doi.org/10.1177/09526951231187556 

    Rowold, K. (2024). Child psychology from Vienna to London: Charlotte Bühler, concepts of childhood, and parenting advice in interwar Britain. History of the Human Sciences, 38(1), 3-25. https://doi.org/10.1177/09526951241289028 

    Sims-Schouten, W. (2021). ‘A troublesome girl is pushed through’: Morality, biological determinism, resistance, resilience, and the Canadian child migration schemes, 1883–1939. History of the Human Sciences, 35(1), 87-110. https://doi.org/10.1177/09526951211036553 

    Skagius, P. (2019). Brains and psyches: Child psychological and psychiatric expertise in a Swedish newspaper, 1980–2008. History of the Human Sciences, 32(3), 76-99. https://doi.org/10.1177/0952695118810284 

    van der Horst, F. C. P., van Rosmalen, L., & van der Veer, R. (2019). Research notes: John Bowlby’s critical evaluation of the work of René Spitz. History of Psychology, 22(2), 205–208. https://doi.org/10.1037/hop0000127b

  • Chapter 19 – Reflective Questions

    1. What role did the photographic dome play in shaping the concept of ‘normal’ child development? 
    2. How does the idea of ‘tools-to-theories’ challenge traditional views of objectivity in developmental psychology? 
    3. In what ways can developmental psychology be seen as a form of biopower?. 
    4. How have material objects such as toys or test kits embodied assumptions about gender, class, or race? 
    5. What lessons can be drawn from historical practices in child psychology for today’s digital tools for child monitoring and assessment? 

  • Chapter 19 – Weblinks

    Normal Development: The Photographic Dome and the Children of the Yale Psycho-Clinic (Academic Article)

    https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/711127

    This academic article discusses the design and purpose of Gesell’s photographic dome, and highlights the role it played in observing and filming infant development in a controlled laboratory setting.

    The Dr Margaret Lowenfeld Trust (Academic Resource)

    https://lowenfeld.org/about-lowenfeld/

    This website is an official archival recourse providing comprehensive information about Lowenfeld’s pioneering work on child psychotherapy, including work like the play therapy technique, allowing students to engage with this influential figure in the field of Child Psychology.

    Susan Isaacs – Melanie Klein Trust (Educational Resource)

    https://melanie-klein-trust.org.uk/writers/susan-isaacs/

    This webpage discusses the early life and subsequent career of Susan Isaacs, with particular emphasis on her contributions to early childhood education and psychoanalysis, and her advocacy for a focus on play-based learning.

    Black is Beautiful: The Doll Study and Racial Preferences and Perceptions – CUNY Academic Commons (Academic Resource)

    https://kennethclark.commons.gc.cuny.edu/the-doll-study

    This article discusses the Clarks’ “Doll Test”, examining the methodology and impact it had on understanding racial perceptions in children.

    Brown V. Board and “The Doll Test” – The Legal Defence Fund (Academic Article)

    https://www.naacpldf.org/brown-vs-board/significance-doll-test/

    This article discusses the aforementioned “Doll Test”, and specifically looks at how this study was used in a landmark Supreme Court case to challenge racial segregation of children in schools, allowing students to critically engage with the theories presented in this chapter.

    Susan Isaacs – Feminist Voices (Academic and Educational Resource)

    https://feministvoices.com/profiles/susan-isaacs

    This webpage gives a profile of Susan Isaacs, with some emphasis places on her role in the integration of psychoanalysis into early childhood education, alongside providing some information on her life which helps to contextualise the work she did.

    John Bowlby – Britannica Biography (Educational Resource)

    https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-Bowlby

    This webpage gives a comprehensive overview of the life and works of John Bowlby, helping students to understand the historical importance of the works that he produced throughout his career.