Barry Bogin is notable for arguing that human evolution introduced two new pre-reproductive stages, childhood and adolescence, into development. He argues that these stages are absent in the pattern of growth in nonhuman mammals, in particular, in other Homininae such as chimpanzees. This makes them biologically specific to humans. He further argues that the physical, behavioral, and emotional characteristics of children and adolescents that derive from these two stages play a key role in creating modern human adults. According to him, appreciating this aspect of human evolution has important implications for child development theory and practice in psychology, education, and child welfare.

Starting in 1974 Bogin began research on the physical development of Guatemalan Maya children, and their families. Since 1992 he has researched Maya child growth and development after migration to the United States. The purpose of this research has been document and model the social, economic, and political influences on differences in physical growth and health between Maya children living in Guatemala compared to those in the USA.