Thérèse Gouin Décarie

Thérèse Gouin-Décarie (; September 30, 1923 – April 2, 2024) was a Canadian developmental psychologist and educator from Quebec. She is known for her work on intellectual and emotional development in young children. She studied psychology at the Université de Montréal, earning a bachelor's degree in 1945 and a master's degree in 1947.

In 1949, Gouin-Décarie returned to teach psychology and complete her dissertation at the Université de Montréal, where she would remain for the rest of her career.

Research Gouin-Décarie conducted research on children's development. This work was published as Intelligence and Affectivity in Early Childhood, and included a foreword by Piaget. It was later translated into several languages.

In the 1960s, Gouin-Décarie led a longitudinal study of children born to mothers who had taken thalidomide during their pregnancy. Her work assessed the psychological and emotional health of these children, and received international attention. and toddlers' perspective-taking skills.

Awards and honours In 1969, Gouin-Décarie was named a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. She was named an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1971. She was named a Distinguished Fellow of the International Society for Infant Study in 1990. In 1994, she was named an Officer of the National Order of Quebec. She received the Prix Acfas Marcel-Vincent from the Association francophone pour le savoir for her work in the social sciences in 1986; in 2013, the prize was renamed the Prix Acfas Thérèse Gouin-Décarie in her honour.

Publications Le développement psychologique de l'enfant., 1953 De la̕dolescence à la maturité, 1955 Le fasi della crescita. : Il libro dei genitori., 1964 Intelligence and affectivity in early childhood; an experimental study of Jean Piaget's object concept and object relations. Foreword by Jean Piaget. Translated by Elisabeth Paszot Brandt and Lewis Wolfgang Brandt., 1965 De l'Adolescence à la maturité : causeries de Radio-Collège (1953-1954), 1965 Inteligencia y afectividad en el niño, 1970 La réaction du jeune enfant à la personne étrangère, par Thérèse Gouin Décarie, en collaboration avec Jacques Goulet [et al.]., 1972 The enfant's reaction to strangers, 1974 Perceptual constancy and object permanency, 1975 Piaget e Freud : Studio sperimentale sull'intelligenza e sulla affettività del bambino, 1976 Le Griffiths, vingt-cinq ans après sa construction : une réévaluation des 80 premiers items : rapport final, 1981