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Nancy Bayley Essay

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Nancy Bayley was a key player in the study of child development throughout her long career. Nancy was born September 1899 in the Dalles, Oregon. Bayley did not go to public school until she was eight years old due to poor health. When she did start school, she was able to catch up very quickly. She attended the University of Washington with plans on teaching English. She took an introductory psychology course taught by Edwin R. Guthrie, a well-known behavioral psychologist, which sparked her interest in the field and she decided to continue studying psychology. She completed and received both her bachelor of science and master or science degrees in psychology at the university of Washington. In 1926 she had her master’s thesis published in Pedagogical Seminary and Journal of Genetic Psychology. Also in 1926 Bayley acquired her doctorate from the university of Iowa. With her doctorate, she decided to further her research on mental and physical growth and early mental abilities. Bayley’s career spanned over 60 years, where she worked on many well-known studies of development. …show more content…

While at Berkeley, she also held positions at Stanford University. Bayley is best remembered for her work on the Berkeley Growth Study. The Berkeley Growth Study wanted to better understand the standards of behavioral development and physical growth at different ages. It was a 40- year longitudinal study that measured development in 74 subjects from infancy through adulthood. Bayley used data from this study to help connect infant size with later adult size. In 1940, the results were published as tables used to predict adult height, within one inch, based a child’s height and skeletal range. The tables became important tools for pediatricians and endocrinologists diagnosing and treating growth

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