* Arnold Gessell was a paediatrician and founder of the Child Development Centre at Yale University. He is known for his work on children's physical development. Through his observations of babies and young children he developed the theory of physical development that has been used as the basis for subsequent work by other researchers. He also suggested that the maturation of the central nervous system underpinned development, with stimulation not necessarily having a significant role. This did lead to some paediatricians adopting a 'laissez-faire' attitude towards children with disabilities, which has been subsequently challenged.
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