Author Joseph Pearce: The Heart-Mind Matrix

Joseph Chilton Pearce (born January 14, 1926, Pineville, Kentucky, US) is an American author of a number of books on child development. He prefers the name "Joe". He served in the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II. He graduated with a BA from College of William and Mary, received a Master of Arts degree from Indiana University, and did post-graduate studies at Geneva Theological College. He presents the idea of the heart - or compassionate mind - as a category of brain function equal in stature to the thalamus, prefrontal cortex and lower brain. He believes that active, imaginative play is the most important of all childhood activities because it cultivates mastery of one's environment, which he terms "creative competence". Children denied that form of play develop feelings of isolation and anxiety.