John H. Flavell, distinguished and influential scholar of developmental psychology, has died

John H. Flavell, the Anne T. and Robert M. Bass Professor of Psychology, Emeritus, in the Stanford School of Humanities and Sciences and a world-renowned psychologist who specialized in young children’s cognitive development, died March 13, 2025. He was 96.

A disciple of Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget, Flavell helped popularize that scholar’s understanding of child psychology. He was a leader in his field, serving as the head of important organizations such as the Society for Research in Child Development. Flavell received numerous awards and honors and was universally beloved by colleagues and students for his modesty and generosity.

“John was such an amazing person, whose kindness touched and changed so many lives,” said Carol Dweck, the Lewis and Virginia Eaton Professor and professor of psychology in H&S. “When I was an assistant professor, John came to my department to give a colloquium. At dinner, he asked me about my research and then discussed it with me in the most supportive and excited way. What a great gift his enthusiasm was to someone who was just starting out. I have never forgotten it.”

‘Mentoring was his favorite part of the job’

Already established in his field when he came to Stanford in 1976, Flavell widened his influence while on campus. In 1979, he became the president of the Society for Research in Child Development (SRCD), and he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1990 and the National Academy of Sciences in 1994. Along the way, he received a number of prestigious awards from the American Psychological Association: the Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award (1984); the award for distinguished contributions to developmental psychology (1986); and the Mentor Award in Developmental Psychology (2002). He also won the SRCD’s Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award in 1995.

He published or contributed to scores of books and articles, and his work was cited nearly 20,000 times by his fellow scholars, a mark of his influence. He coined the term metacognition, meaning awareness of one’s own thought processes, and researched the concept throughout his academic life. He focused on the mental development of young children, and his works helped foster understanding of how kids learn about appearance and reality. Over the course of his research, he made use of what colleagues remember as a childlike sense of wonder and curiosity. At Stanford, he was often assisted in his work by his wife, Eleanor “Ellie” Flavell, whom he married in 1954. She is listed as a co-author on many of his articles (as is Frances “Francie” Green, another dedicated Stanford research assistant). 

Despite his pedigree, his colleagues and students remember him for his humility and curiosity. “John always made his graduate students feel we were very important, repeatedly telling us that mentoring us was his favorite part of his job,” said his former student Angeline Lillard, now the Commonwealth Chair of Psychology at the University of Virginia. “He would pull out his little appointment book and pencil with delight and ask, ‘When can we meet?’ And during meetings, he would sit with furrowed brow and think deeply about your research problems. He was a model for good, hard thinking. I remember one day walking through a garden off the Stanford Quad and noticing John on a bench under a tree, his bike to the side—he was posed just like Rodin’s The Thinker. And I realized: ‘That’s it! It’s all deep, focused thinking. That’s where he gets his insights.’”

An accomplished pianist 

Born in Rockland, Massachusetts, in 1928, Flavell spent two years in the Army before earning his bachelor’s degree in psychology from Northeastern University in 1951. He then received his master’s degree and doctorate in psychology from Clark University, where he was mentored by renowned psychologist Heinz Werner. He spent ten years at the University of Rochester and another ten years at the University of Minnesota before joining Stanford in 1976. He retired from the university in 2002.

Through it all, one sentiment about his work seemed to be a constant. As he expressed to a colleague about a project in 2003: “I really enjoy it. It’s like a second childhood for me.”

In addition to defining the field of child psychology, he also practiced piano for an hour a day, even in his later years. “His playing was invariably warm and expressive, and his comments about other people’s playing, including mine, were thoughtful and constructive,” said Herbert H. Clark, the Albert Ray Lang Professor of Psychology, Emeritus, and a colleague throughout Flavell’s time at Stanford. “He was just as comfortable in talking about music as he was in talking about kids. At one recital, [our teacher] played a couple of piano pieces for us and asked us to guess the composer. Various of us offered names such as Schumann and Mendelssohn. ‘No,’ she said. ‘These are by John.’ He had written them in his 20s and had recently shown them to [her]. Suddenly, we had a new appreciation for the person who had been with us the entire time.”

Flavell’s wife, Ellie, died in 2020. He is survived by his daughter, Beth; his son, Jim; two grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.