| Kagan received the B.S. from Rutgers University and a Ph.D. (1954) from Yale University. His first position was in the department of psychology at Ohio State University. Because of the Korean War, he was drafted into the army in the spring of 1955 and served until January 1957. In early 1957 he went to the Fels Research Institute in Yellow Springs, Ohio, as a senior psychologist to conduct the analyses of the data gathered on the longitudinal sample that was an essential part of the Fels program. The product of that work was published with Howard Moss in 1962 in Birth to maturity. After serving as chairman of die department of psychology at Fels, Kagan went to Harvard in 1964 as a professor of psychology and has remained there ever
since. Kagan's research has been on varied aspects of the development of children, including variation in the cognitive styles called reflectivity
and impulsivity; the maturation of memory, self-awareness, and moral sense over the first 2 years of life; the effect of day care on young
infants: and the influence of temperament on children's behavior. He has authored many books and articles, including Change and continuity in
infancy. Infancy, The nature of the child, and Unstable ideas. He has received distinguished scientist awards from the American Psychological Association and the Society for Research in Child Development, the Kenneth Craik Award from St. John's College, Cambridge University, the Wilbur Cross Medal from Yale University, and is a member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences. |
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