The science of humanity and the humanity of science: Perspectives on Ed Zigler's contributions to developmental psychopathology and the study of all children

Abstract

We present this article as a testament to Ed Zigler's commitment to science in the service of humanity and to policy based on conceptually compelling theory and methodologically rigorous science. In doing so, we highlight ways that Ed's universal and inclusive developmental world view, early training as a behaviorist, exacting scientific standards, concern for others, and appreciation of his own roots and upbringing all transformed the way that many different groups of people of all ages and backgrounds are studied, viewed, and intervened with by researchers, policy makers, and society at large. Ed's narrative of development rather than defect, universality rather than difference, and holistic rather than reductionist continues to compel us in the quest for a kinder, more inclusive, and enabling society. Conversely, Ed's behaviorist training as a graduate student also influenced him throughout his career and was essential to his career-long commitment to systemic action in the service of improving the lives of others. We cite the lessons that we, as his descendants, learned from Ed and apply them to our own areas of research with populations that Ed did not study, but had considerable interest in – persons with autism spectrum disorder and Indigenous youth.

Intellectual functioning in survivors of extremely low birthweight: Cognitive outcomes in childhood and adolescence

“…Nonetheless, efforts to mitigate the exposure of preterm infants to potentially modifiable risk factors such as low SES and maternal adversity may be constructive. Our findings with respect to adolescent reading skills suggest that sustained higher levels of maternal economic security may be a means for optimising academic achievement in all ELBW survivors, consistent with Zigler's praxis of improving opportunities for children environmentally, via changes in resource allocation (Burack et al 2021a).…”

“…Beginning with Ed Zigler's (1967Zigler's ( , 1969 seminal writings, developmental researchers have recast theory and policy regarding persons with intellectual disability (ID) (for reviews, see Hodapp 2021;Burack et al 2021b). Zigler's approach was fundamentally rooted in compassion emanating from his own experience of poverty and marginalisation, in behaviourist methodology that offered reliable evidence to improve the lives of children with ID and in his unwavering determination to undermine the intellectual errors and prejudices that compound the daily difficulties faced by these children and their families (Burack et al 2021a).…”

Visual filtering in time and space among persons with Down syndrome

“…In this contribution to the special issue on the legacy of Ed Zigler, we present a study of visual filtering across time and space among persons with Down syndrome (DS) to highlight extensions and expansions of Zigler's (1967, 1969) developmental approach that continue to impact empirical research on persons with intellectual disability (ID) more than 50 years after its initial articulation (Burack, Evans, Napoleon, et al . 2021; Burack, Evans, Russo, et al ., 2021; Hodapp 2021). In particular, we note three essential components of Zigler's original formulation (for reviews, refer to Zigler & Balla 1982; Hodapp et al .…”

Ed Zigler's legacy and the developmental approach to the study of persons with intellectual disability

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This special issue is a brief testimony, of sorts, to Ed Zigler's impact on the field of intellectual disability (ID) beginning with his initial contributions in the 1960s. In contrast to the 'deficit' approach to ID that dominated this area of study for decades, Ed's 'developmental approach' was an inclusive one, in that it placed the development of persons with ID in the same realm as typically developing children (Burack et al 2021a). According to Ed, the development of typically and atypically developing children was similarly impacted by personality, motivational and other personal, familial and contextual factors.

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