Donaldson, Margaret Caldwell (1926–)
Donaldson, Margaret Caldwell (1926–)
Scottish psychologist. Born in 1926 in Paisley, Scotland; Edinburgh University, BA in French and education, PhD in psychology; completed post-doctoral studies at Geneva and Harvard.
Influential psychologist, was appointed to departments of Education and Psychology at Edinburgh and became professor of developmental psychology (1980); published texts on children's intellectual and linguistic skills which continue to be required reading for students of developmental psychology; covered new ground in A Study of Children's Thinking (1963) and Children's Minds (1978); reinterpreted work of Jean Piaget, paying closer attention to children's thought processes and emphasizing importance of social context; oversaw development of research in developmental psychology and psycholinguistics on extensive scale at Edinburgh University.