The Developing Child gives students the tools they require to organize, retain and apply information from the broad field of child psychology, while offering balanced coverage of theory and application, with a strong emphasis on culture. KEY TOPICS: Prenatal Development; Birth and Early Infancy; Physical Development; Perceptual Development; Cognitive Development; Development of Language; Personality Development; Development of Social Relationships; Family System; Atypical Development.  For individuals seeking to understand to better understand children.   Want to learn more about MyVirtualChild? Visit www.mydevelopmentlab.com and click on the `watch this video’ link to learn about MyVirtualChild.   MyDevelpmentLab with MyVirtualChild is available at www.mydevelopmentlab.com.

Table of Contents:
Part 1: Introduction 1 Basic Issues in the Study of Development   Issues in the Study of Development   Two Key Questions   Influences on Development The Ecological Perspective   Vulnerability and Resilience Three Kinds of Change   Theories of Development   Psychoanalytic Theories   Cognitive Theories   Learning Theories   Comparing Theories   Finding the Answers: Research Designs and Methods   The Goals of Developmental Science   Studying Age-Related Changes   Descriptive Methods Experimental Methods   Cross-Cultural Research     Research Ethics   THINK CRITICALLY CONDUCT YOUR OWN RESEARCH   Summary   Key Terms   THINKING ABOUT Research: Responding to Media Reports of Research DEVELOPMENTAL SCIENCE IN The Real World: Helping Children Who Are Afraid to Go to School THE NEXT STEP   PART 2: The Beginnings of Life 2 Prenatal Development   Conception and Genetics   The Process of Conception     Genotypes, Phenotypes, and Patterns of Genetic Inheritance   Development from Conception to Birth   The Stages of Prenatal Development   Sex Differences in Prenatal Development   Prenatal Behavior   Problems in Prenatal Development   Genetic Disorders   Chromosomal Errors     Teratogens: Maternal Diseases   Teratogens: Drugs   Other Teratogens and Maternal Factors   THINK CRITICALLY CONDUCT YOUR OWN RESEARCH   Summary   Key Terms   THINKING ABOUT Research: Assisted Reproductive Technology DEVELOPMENTAL SCIENCE IN The Real World: Fetal Assessment and Treatment THE NEXT STEP     3 Birth and Early Infancy   Birth   Birth Choices   The Process of Birth   Low Birth Weight   Behavior in Early Infancy   Reflexes and Behavioral States   Motor, Sensory, and Perceptual Abilities   Learning Temperament and Social Skills   Health and Wellness in Early Infancy   Nutrition, Health Care, and Immunizations   Illnesses   Infant Mortality   THINK CRITICALLY CONDUCT YOUR OWN RESEARCH   Summary   Key Terms   THINKING ABOUT Research Variations in Infants’ Cries   DEVELOPMENTAL SCIENCE IN The real world Breast or Bottle?     PART 3: The Physical Child 4 Physical Development   The Brain and Nervous System   Growth Spurts   Synaptic Development   Myelination   Lateralization   Size, Shape, and Skills   Growth   Bones, Muscles, and Fat   Using the Body   The Endocrine and Reproductive Systems   Hormones   Sequence of Changes in Girls and Boys   The Timing of Puberty   Sexual Behavior in Adolescence   Prevalence of Sexual Behavior     Sexually Transmitted Diseases   Teenage Pregnancy   Sexual Minority Youth   Health and Wellness   Health in Childhood   Excessive Weight Gain   Poverty and Children’s Health  Risky Behavior in Adolescence  Mortality   THINK CRITICALLY CONDUCT YOUR OWN RESEARCH   Summary   Key Terms   THINKING ABOUT Research Causes and Consequences of Child Abuse and Neglect   DEVELOPMENTAL SCIENCE IN The real world A Good Night’s Sleep for Kids (and Parents, Too!)     5 Perceptual Development   Thinking about Perceptual Development   Ways of Studying Early Perceptual Skills   Explanations of Perceptual Development   Sensory Skills   Seeing   Hearing and Other Senses   Perceptual Skills   Looking     Listening   Combining Information from Several Senses   Ignoring Perceptual Information     The Object Concept   Object Perception   Object Permanence   Perception of Social Signals   Early Discrimination of Emotional Expressions   Cross-Cultural Commonalities and Variations     THINK CRITICALLY CONDUCT YOUR OWN RESEARCH Summary   Key Terms   THINKING ABOUT research Langlois’s Studies of Babies’ Preferences for Attractive Faces DEVELOPMENTAL SCIENCE IN the real world Infant Responses to Maternal Depression       PART 4 The Thinking Child 6  Cognitive Development I: Structure and Process   Piaget’s Basic Ideas   Schemes   Adaptation   Causes of Cognitive Development   Infancy   Piaget’s View of the Sensorimotor Period   Challenges to Piaget’s View of Infancy   The Preschool Years   Piaget’s View of the Preoperational Stage   Challenges to Piaget’s View of Early Childhood   Theories of Mind   False Belief and Theory of Mind across Cultures   Alternative Theories of Early Childhood Thinking   The School-Aged Child   Piaget’s View of Concrete Operations   Different Approaches to Concrete Operational Thought   Adolescence   Piaget’s View of Formal Operations   Post-Piagetian Work on Adolescent Thought   Development of Information-Processing Skills   Changes in Processing Capacity and Efficiency   Memory Strategies Metamemory and Metacognition   Expertise   THINK CRITICALLY CONDUCT YOUR OWN RESEARCH   Summary  Key Terms   THINKING ABOUT research Elkind’s Adolescent Egocentrism   DEVELOPMENTAL SCIENCE IN the real world Leading Questions and Children’s Memory     7  Cognitive Development II: Individual Differences in Cognitive Abilities Measuring Intellectual Power   The First IQ Tests   Modern IQ Tests   Stability of Test Scores   What IQ Scores Predict   Explaining Individual Differences in IQ Scores   Twin and Adoption Studies Family Characteristics and IQ Scores   Interventions and IQ Scores   Interactions of Heredity and Environment   Explaining Group Differences in IQ or Achievement Test Scores   Ethnic Differences   Cross-Cultural Differences   Sex Differences   Alternative Views of Intelligence   Information-Processing Theory   Sternberg’s Triarchic Theory of Intelligence   Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences   Creativity THINK CRITICALLY CONDUCT YOUR OWN RESEARCH   Summary   Key Terms   THINKING ABOUT research The Flynn Effect DEVELOPMENTAL SCIENCE IN the real world Stereotype Threat     8  The Development of Language   Before the First Word: The Prelinguistic Phase   Early Sounds and Gestures   Receptive Language   Learning Words and Word Meanings   The First Words   Later Word Learning   Constraints on Word Learning   Learning the Rules: The Development of Grammar and Pragmatics   Holophrases and First Sentences   The Grammar Explosion   Later Grammar Learning   Pragmatics   Explaining Language Development   Environmental Theories   Nativist Theories   Constructivist Theories   Individual and Group Differences in Language Development   Differences in Rate   Cross-Cultural Differences in Language Development   Learning to Read and Write   The Early Foundation: Phonological Awareness   Becoming Literate in School  Learning a Second Language   THINK CRITICALLY CONDUCT YOUR OWN RESEARCH Summary   Key Terms   THINKING ABOUT research Sign Language and Gestures in Children Who Are Deaf   DEVELOPMENTAL SCIENCE IN the real world One Language or Two?       PART 5 The Social Child         9  Personality Development: Alternative Views   Defining Personality   Temperament The Big Five   Genetic and Biological Explanations of Personality   The Biological Argument   Critique of Biological Theories   Learning Explanations of Personality   The Learning Argument     Critique of Learning Models   Psychoanalytic Explanations of Personality   The Psychoanalytic Argument   Freud’s Psychosexual Stages   Erikson’s Psychosocial Stages   Evidence and Applications     Critique of Psychoanalytic Theories   A Possible Synthesis   THINK CRITICALLY CONDUCT YOUR OWN RESEARCH    Summary   Key Terms   THINKING ABOUT research  Locus of Control and Adolescent Health DEVELOPMENTAL SCIENCE IN the real world  Temperamental Surgency in the Toddler Classroom   10     Concepts of Self, Gender, and Sex Roles   The Concept of Self   The Subjective Self   The Objective Self   The Emotional Self   Self-Concept at School Age   Self-Concept and Identity in Adolescence   Ethnic Identity in Adolescence   Self-Esteem   The Development of Self-Esteem   Consistency of Self-Esteem over Time   The Development of the Concepts of Gender and Sex Roles   Developmental Patterns   Sex-Role Concepts and Stereotypes   Explaining Sex-Role Development   Biological Approaches   THINK CRITICALLY CONDUCT YOUR OWN RESEARCH    Summary   Key Terms   THINKING ABOUT research Gender Differences in Temperament: Real or Imagined?   DEVELOPMENTAL SCIENCE IN the real world Adolescent Rites of Passage       11     The Development of Social Relationships   Relationships with Parents   Attachment Theory   The Parent’s Bond to the Child   The Child’s Attachment to the Parent   Parent-Child Relationships in Adolescence   Variations in the Quality of Attachments     Secure and Insecure Attachments   Temperament and Attachment Stability and Long-Term Consequences of Attachment Quality       Relationships with Peers   Peer Relationships in Infancy and the Preschool Years   Peer Relationships at School Age   Social Status   Peer Relationships in Adolescence   Sibling Relationships   Behavior with Peers   Prosocial Behavior       Aggression     Trait Aggression   THINK CRITICALLY CONDUCT YOUR OWN RESEARCH Summary   Key Terms   THINKING ABOUT research Bullies and Victims DEVELOPMENTAL SCIENCE IN the real world Rearing Helpful and Altruistic Children     12   Thinking About Relationships: Social-Cognitive and Moral Development The Development of Social Cognition Some General Principles and Issues Describing Other People Reading Others' Feelings Describing Friendships Understanding Rules and Intentions Moral Development Dimensions of Moral Development Kohlberg's Stages of Moral Development Causes and Consequences of Moral Development Alternative Views THINK CRITICALLY CONDUCT YOUR OWN RESEARCH Summary Key Terms THINKING ABOUT research: Preventing Violence by Increasing Children's Emotional Competence DEVELOPMENTAL SCIENCE IN the real world: Learning and Unlearning Prejudice     PART 6 The Whole Child   13  The Ecology of Development: The Child within the Family System    Understanding the Family System     Family Systems Theory       Bronfenbrenner’s Bioecological Approach     Dimensions of Family Interaction   Individuals in the Family System Warmth and Responsiveness   Methods of Control and Communication Patterns         Parenting Styles Types of Parenting Styles   Parenting Styles and Development   Ethnic and Socioeconomic Differences in Parenting Styles     Family Structure, Divorce, and Parental Employment   Family Structure   Divorce       Parents’ Jobs   Social Support for Parents     THINK CRITICALLY CONDUCT YOUR OWN RESEARCH    Summary   Key Terms   THINKING ABOUT research To Spank or Not to Spank? DEVELOPMENTAL SCIENCE IN the real world When Divorce Is Unavoidable   14   Beyond the Family: The Impact of the Broader Culture  Nonparental Care   Difficulties in Studying Nonparental Care   Effects of Early Nonparental Care on Development   Before- and After-School Care   The Impact of Schools   Early Childhood Education Elementary School The Transition to Secondary School   Engagement in and Disengagement from Secondary School     Homeschooling   The Impact of Entertainment Media  Television and Video Games Computers and Electronic Multitasking Macrosystem Effects: The Impact of the Larger Culture   Socioeconomic Status and Development   Race and Ethnicity  The Culture as a Whole   THINK CRITICALLY CONDUCT YOUR OWN RESEARCH   Summary   Key Terms   THINKING ABOUT research The Effects of Teenaged Employment DEVELOPMENTAL SCIENCE IN the real world Choosing a Child Care Center   Chapter 15 Atypical Development Understanding Atypical Development Types of Problems Theoretical Perspectives on Atypical Development Developmental Psychopathology Attention Problems and Externalizing Problems Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Oppositional Defiant Disorder Conduct Disorder Internalizing Problems Eating Disorders Depression Adolescent Suicide Atypical Intellectual and Social Development Mental Retardation   Learning Disabilities Giftedness Pervasive Developmental Disorders   Schooling for Atypical Children THINK CRITICALLY CONDUCT YOUR OWN RESEARCH     Summary   Key Terms   THINKING ABOUT research Pediatric Bipolar Disorder DEVELOPMENTAL SCIENCE IN the real world Knowing When to Seek Professional Help   Epilogue Putting It All Together: The Developing Child   Transitions, Consolidations, and Systems   From Birth to 24 Months   Central Processes   Influences on the Basic Processes   The Preschool Years   Central Processes   Influences on the Basic Processes   The Elementary School Years   The Transition between 5 and 7   Central Processes   Influences on the Basic Processes: The Role of Culture   Adolescence   Early and Late Adolescence   Central Processes and Their Connections   Influences on the Basic Processes   A Return to Some Basic Questions   What Are the Major Influences on Development?   Does Timing Matter?   What Is the Nature of Developmental Change?   What Is the Significance of Individual Differences?   A Final Point: The Joy of Development   Glossary   References   Photo Credits   Name Index   Subject Index