Dalla psicologia dell’età evolutiva alla psicologia dello sviluppo

This work traces some of the main researches in the field of developmental psychology, initiated by the first collaborators of Renzo Canestrari in the 1950s. In particular, it traces the academic path of Marco Walter Battacchi and Giuliana Giovanelli, who have been the first two Full Professors of Developmental Psychology at the University of Bologna, by presenting their main scientific and didactic contributions. Among these, Battacchiʼs works (on mental retardation, difficulties of the children of Italian immigrants in Germany, ethnic prejudice, youth delinquency, development of thought, emotions, their relationships with language and theory of mind) and Giovanelliʼs works (on methods of assessment and communication to enhance the potential of each pupil, psychology of perception, time, at term and preterm newborn and early perceptual, cognitive and linguistic processes) have given an innovative and widely recognized contribution to this discipline and to the first 50 years of history of the Institute, then Department, of Psychology. Their ideas and their pioneering works have constituted a fundamental reference for research groups in the field of developmental psychology at University of Bologna, national and international level.