Dr. Philip Zelazo received his B.A. in Psychology (1962) from the American International College. He worked on his M.Sc. in Experimental Psychology at North Carolina State University and obtained his Ph.D. in Developmental and Social Psychology (1967) from the University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. He received his post-doctoral experience in Developmental Psychology with Professor Jerome Kagan at Harvard University. Dr. Zelazo received an Honorary D.Sc. from the American International College in 1992.

Dr. Zelazo is presently Professor of Psychology and Associate Professor of Pediatrics at McGill University. He has been Head of the Department of Psychology, Montreal Children's Hospital since 1984.

Dr. Zelazo has published prolifically in professional journals, book chapters and books in the domains of infant-toddler development, information processing, expressive language, behavioral and early motor development. He co-authored with Jerome Kagan and Richard Kearsley a widely-recognized book entitled Infancy: Its place in human development (Harvard University Press ) and created a treatment manual for children with autism and pervasive developmental delays with Richard Kearsley and Judy Ungerer entitled Learning to Speak: A Manual for Parents (Lawrence Erlbaum Associates). He co-edited (with Ronald Barr, M.D.) the volume Challenges to Developmental Paradigms: Implications for Theory, Assessment and Treatment, and (with Michael Weiss, Ph.D.) Newborn Attention: Biological Constraints and the Influence of Experience, which is the most thorough volume on neonatal attention presently available.

Dr. Zelazo's research focuses primarily on information processing ability in infants ranging from birth to 42 months. Data collected have permitted the measurement of mental ability independent of the major presenting disabilities in young children - an achievement that has eluded conventional tests of infant-toddler intelligence. The clinical assessment of information processing ability has made possible a differential diagnosis for children who do not speak, have severely immature social interactions, disruptive non-compliant behavior and immature object use. The capacity to identify normal intelligence despite severe developmental delays can sharply improve the prognosis for children with PDD and autism.

Dr. Zelazo is the recipient of numerous research grants. He has held appointments with the American Psychological Association and the International Society for Infant Studies and is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, American Academy of Behavioral Medicine Research, the American Psychological Association, and the American Psychological Society.