In Memoriam: Jerome Bruner (1915-2016). Polymath And Pioneer In Cognitive Development And Education

Jerome Seymour Bruner died on 5 June 2016 at the age of 100. Beginning as a standard experimental psychologist working with laboratory animals, he next ventured into the field of human social psychology, working in intelligence and public opinion polling during World War II. He then gained fame for his 'New Look' studies of perception. With A Study of Thinking Bruner took his place as a leader of the ` Cognitive Revolution', a movement that restored the mind to its traditional place at the core of psychology. Studies in Cognitive Growth was the developmental sequel to A Study of Thinking. It contained a number of path-breaking studies that, in essence, asked how the adult hypotheses and concept-attainment strategies documented in A Study of Thinking originated and developed in childhood. Unfortunately, these experiments on the developmental origins of adult concept attainment strategies largely got lost in the controversy over Bruner's criticisms of Piaget. Bruner's interest in educational experimentation, exemplified in The Process of Education, continued throughout his life. In later years he made annual pilgrimages to Reggio Emilia, a small city in northern Italy famous for its outstanding approach to early childhood education, much of it in the Brunerian tradition. Jerry Bruner's passion for ideas and his optimistic belief that all problems were, if not actually solvable, at least attackable brought new excitement to the study of the mind of the child.