Jerome Kagan (c. 1929– ) started his career studying psychology and biology at rutgers university in new Jersey, and then received his Phd in psychology from yale university in 1954. after a two-year...

Jerome Kagan (c. 1929– ) started his career studying psychology and biology at rutgers university in new Jersey, and then received his Phd in psychology from yale university in 1954. after a two-year stint in the us army during the Korean War, he joined the fels research institute, where he was involved in a longitudinal study which first drew his attention to differences in temperament in children. given his early interest in biology as well as psychology, the study of the role of temperament in behaviour was a natural direction to pursue; it has been a major focus of his developmental research for more than 35 years, resulting in many articles and books, including Birth to Maturity (1962), The Second Year (1981) and Three Seductive Ideas (1996). since 1964, he has been a professor at harvard university, and in 1997 he became a co-director of harvard’s Mind–brain–behavior initiative, a cross disciplinary exploration of human nature involving neuroscientists, social scientists and humanists. Kagan has received numerous honours for his work, including the distinguished scientist award from the american Psychological association. he continues to live and work in cambridge, Massachusetts.