Kagan's work has emphasized the importance of recognizing the unique biology of children, which contributes in unusual ways to their development and maturation.
"In 1964, I never would have entertained the idea that the genetically based temperament of the child would play such a powerful role in determining personality traits," he said.
Eschewing relativists in his own field, Kagan now believes that fundamental notions of right and wrong are suggested to us by our biology, so, at an early age, children can benefit from instruction in ethics.
Most recently, he and a team of graduate students have studied shyness.
His research has led him to the conclusion that children who are socially anxious at young ages often become shy adolescents.
Kagan found biological differences in extremely shy children, leading his team of scientists to develop a theory about why children are unusually shy.
"Most of the milestones of maturation are biological," Kagan said. "In the opening year, the growth of the human brain does constrain and modulate when language appears, when guilt appears, and when major emotions appear."
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