| Abstract: | Myrtle McGraw's contribution to understanding infant growth and development is undisputed, but controversy stubbornly persists regarding her views about how the brain contributes to behavioral development. McGraw conducted a more complex analysis of neurobehavior than is generally acknowledged by those who characterize her position as maturationist. McGraw drew on several streams of scientific knowledge and philosophy in a collaboration that included John Dewey to advance a unique analysis of the ontogeny of the brain and consciousness that singled-out the reciprocal relationship between neural growth processes and experience in early development. McGraw's studies of the role of gravity, inhibition, and judgment in the integration of behavior particularly remain pertinent to researchers examining the neurobiological and quantum processes through which brain and behavior undergo transformation. |
