Author(s): Greg Cook; Joan Littlefield Cook

Child Development

Child Development: Principles and Perspectives, 2E shows students the power of developmental research in practice!

The topically-organized Child Development, Second Edition combines streamlined coverage with an application-driven active learning system.  Cook and Cook focus students on how they can promote positive child development by putting the science to work outside of the classroom.

The approach recognizes that the majority of students enrolled in the child development course will likely interact in the future with children as educators, medical professionals, social workers, counselors, or as parents.  For this reason, the authors punctuate each chapter with numerous applications, including interviews with a real parent (or  child) and a real professional who in some way depends upon child development research.

Child Development is supported by the new and improved MyDevelopmentLab, an exciting learning and assessment tool designed to increase student success in the classroom, and provide instructors with every resource needed to teach and administer their course. The latest version of MyDevelopmentLab features Virtual Child. This interactive simulation offers students the opportunity to act as a parent and raise a virtual child.

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NEW- MyDevelopmentLab is an exciting learning and assessment tool designed to increase student success in the classroom, and provide instructors with every resource needed to teach and administer their course. The latest version of MyDevelopmentLab also features Virtual Child.

NEW- Virtual Child: This interactive simulation offers students the opportunity to act as a parent and raise a virtual child. By making decisions about specific scenarios, students raise their child from birth to age 18 and see how their own decisions and parenting actions affect their child over time. At each age, students are given feedback about the various milestones their child has attained. As in real life, certain “unplanned” events may randomly be presented for students. Key stages of the child’s development will include personalized feedback. Virtual Child is available as a stand alone product or as part of MyDevelopmentLab.

Chapters changes include:

 In response to reviewer feedback, the previously separate chapter on atypical development (previously Ch. 14) which covered giftedness, behavioral, emotional, developmental, and learning problems, and abuse and neglect, has been broken up and the content distributed throughout the text where most appropriate.

• Child Abuse & Neglect was moved to Ch. 4, Physical Development: Body, Brain, and Perception

• Autism and Autism Spectrum Disorders  and Attention problems and ADHD were moved to Ch. 6, Information Processing: The Development of Memory and Thought

• Mental Retardation, Gifted and Talented Children, Communication and Learning Disorders were moved to Chapter 7, Intelligence and Academic Skills.

• Conduct Disorders were moved to Chapter 11, Moral Development.

• Depression, Suicide and Resilience are now found in Ch. 9, Attachment, Temperament, and Emotion

A new standalone chapter on Moral Development (chapter 10) has been added, separate from chapter 9,  Becoming Who We Are: Development of Self and Gender.

Cutting-edge research topics have been added or expanded throughout. For example, the new edition integrates: new coverage of probabilistic epigenesis (chapter 2); new research on health and safety issues (chapter 4); recent sociocultural views of cognitive development (chapter 5); research on autism spectrum disorders (chapter 6);  new assessment approaches (chapter 7); new research on bilingualism and social and cultural dialects (chapter 8); the development of sexual orientation (chapter 9); new research on aggressive behavior, risk-taking behavior and positive youth development (chapter 11); adolescent romantic relationships (chapter 12); research on the family system, sibling relationships, grandparents and the extended family (chapter 13); research on video game playing and Internet use (chapter 14).

A new critical thinking feature, Thinking Critically, replaces the Your Perspective boxes from the first edition. 

Approximately 500 new references have been added throughout.

Roughly one-third of the Personal Perspective and Professional Perspective interviews have been replaced. Every effort was made to provide both a more diverse group of interviewees as well as to include more interviewees from the education field.

Data, figures, and tables have been updated throughout. 

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• Accomplished teachers and active researchers, Greg and Joan Cook are both on top of the latest research in the field and intimately familiar with what students want out of a child development course. The authors' guiding philosophy is to give the reader a complete but digestible synthesis of the latest research in the field and also tie the material to the interests of the reader. 

• Applications are emphasized throughout, and real people in real situations are introduced in every chapter.

• A Professional Perspective, an interview with a real-life professional who, in some way, relies upon child development research findings to do their job, allows students to read about the challenges these professionals face and the unique ways they approach these challenges. This feature may also open students eyes to previously unknown career paths.

• A Personal Perspective, an interview with real parents and/or children, connects chapter content to real-life childrearing issues.

• A Social Policy Perspective highlights the ways programs, laws, regulations, and other governing aspects of society can affect children positively and/or negatively.

How do you get students to think critically about and make a personal connection with child development science?

• Every component of the Cook and Cook learning system is designed to promote critical thinking and personal reflection, so that students can move past a superficial understanding of the material and make it part of their lives.

• A chapter-opening case immediately asks students to put themselves in the shoes of someone who is facing a child development-related challenge.

• Think About... questions in the margins ask students to provide advice or solutions to the chapter-opening case based upon their understanding of the material they've just finished reading.

• End of the chapter Thinking Back... notes offer the authors' suggestions for how the chapter content could be used to advise the characters described in introductory case.

• Thinking Critically, found in the margins throughout the text, encourage elaborative rehearsal and help students to connect with the material on a deeper, more personal level.

• Perspective boxes focusing on parenting, professional and social policy applications are accompanied by probing questions that prompt students to think about concepts from different perspectives.

How do you help students to become better active learners?

• Cook and Cook’s active learning system is built upon learning theory principles, with each component being visually linked to the others for navigational ease and reinforcement.

• Schema activating preview questions at the start of each major section orient students' thinking toward the material to follow.

• Let's Review questions appear at the end of each major section, with answers provided below and upside down, so in just a few seconds students can receive quick feedback on their understanding of the material.

• A Chapter Review in a question-and-answer format concludes each chapter, reminding students about the main questions addressed in the chapter and offering a quick summary of the most important concepts, organized by chapter subsection.

• Thinking Critically questions in the margins facilitate elaborative rehearsal.

• A running glossary appears in the margin, providing students with easy-to-access definitions of key terms.

• MyDevelopmentLab (www.mydevelopmentlab.com) promotes active learning through interactive animations and simulations, videos with linked assessment questions, and a unique Study Plan feature that adapts to students' performance on chapter Pre-Tests to help them focus their efforts on the areas where their knowledge is weakest.

Is diversity coverage an important consideration for you?

• While tackling the challenge of describing the commonalities of development, the authors carefully integrate research studies that capture statistics and results from many cultures, and discuss the influences of culture and ethnicity on many aspects of development.

• Interviewees for the Personal Perspective and Professional Perspective boxes hail from a wide variety of cultural, ethnic, geographic and professional backgrounds, so that all students might “see themselves” in the text.

Are your students asking for additional help learning and applying the concepts found in the textbook?

• Child Development is supported by MyDevelopmentLab, an online teaching and learning system featuring audio, video, animations, and simulations organized around an online version of the textbook. MyDevelopmentLab is accompanied by powerful assessment tools, including an adaptive Study Plan,  that promote better, more efficient student learning. Visit www.mydevelopmentlab.com for more information.

• For those looking for extra practice in a portable, off-line format, the Grade Aid study guide offers Before You Read... tips for preparing for the material in the chapter, As You Read... activities to help students retain the information they are gathering, After You Read... assessments, and When You Have Finished... activities that take students deeper into the material.

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CHAPTER 1

EXPLORING CHILD DEVELOPMENT

DEFINING THE FIELD

What Develops?

What Drives Development? Nature,  and Nurture, and Reciprocal Relationships

THEORIES OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

What Is a Theory, and Why Are Theories Useful?

Psychoanalytic Theories

Behavioral and Social Learning Theories

Cognitive Theories

Biological Theories

Contextual and Systems Theories

USING THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD: RESEARCH IN CHILD DEVELOPMENT

Descriptive Research Methods

Correlational Research Methods: Measuring Associations

Experimental Research Methods: Determining Cause and Effect

Methods for Assessing Development

Ethics in Research with Children

APPLICATIONS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT RESEARCH AND CAREERS RELATED TO CHILDREN

Practical Applications of Child Development Research

            Personal Perspective “Meet First-Time Expectant Parents”

            Social Policy Perspective: “Every Day in America”

Careers Related to Children

            Professional Perspective: “Career Focus: Meet a School Social Worker”

CHAPTER 2

HEREDITY AND THE ENVIRONMENT

GENES AND HUMAN REPRODUCTION

Genes and the Magical Four-Letter Code

            Social Policy Perspective: “Protecting the Genetic Privacy of Citizens”

Human Reproduction and Cell Division

            Personal Perspective: “Meet a Couple Who Used Artificial Insemination ”

HOW TRAITS AND GENETIC ABNORMALITIES ARE INHERITED

Dominant—Recessive Traits

Chromosome Abnormalities

Prenatal Screening and Genetic Testing

            Professional Perspective: “Career Focus: Meet a Genetic Counselor”

HOW GENES AND ENVIRONMENTS INTERACT

Range of Reaction

Canalization

Niche-Picking: I Gotta Be Me ...

Probabilistic Epigenesis: Activating Your Genes

BEHAVIOR GENETICS: MEASURING THE HERITABILITY OF TRAITS

Behavior Genetics, Heritability, and Shared and Nonshared Environments

How Is Heritability Estimated?

Heritability of Complex Characteristics

CHAPTER 3

PRENATAL DEVELOPMENT AND BIRTH

PRENATAL DEVELOPMENT

Conception

Stages of Prenatal Development

TERATOGENS: HEALTH RISKS FOR THE BABY

Alcohol

            Personal Perspective: “Meet a Family Who Adopted a Child with FAS”

Cocaine

Cigarette Smoking

            Social Policy Perspective: “The Case of Malissa Ann Crawley”

Maternal Health

Maternal Age

Critical Periods

The Role of Fathers

THE PROCESS OF BIRTH

Stages of Birth

Options in Giving Birth: Choices and Alternatives

            Professional Perspective: “Career Focus: Meet a Certified Nurse—Midwife.”

Drugs during Labor and Delivery

The Partner’s Role: Helping During Birth

Birthing Complications: Something Isn’t Right

Here’s the Newborn!

INFANTS AT RISK: PREMATURITY AND INFANT MORTALITY

What Is Prematurity?

Infant Mortality

Prenatal Care: Having a Healthy Baby

BECOMING A FAMILY: PSYCHOLOGICAL ADJUSTMENTS TO HAVING A NEWBORN

The Transition to Parenthood

Becoming the Big Brother or Sister

CHAPTER 4

PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT: BODY, BRAIN, AND PERCEPTION

PHYSICAL GROWTH AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF MOTOR COORDINATION

Physical Growth

Reflexes: The Infant’s First Coordinated Movements

Voluntary Movements: The Motor Milestones

            Professional Perspective: “Career Focus: Meet a Physical Therapist”

Nutrition and Eating-Related Problems

DEVELOPMENT OF THE BRAIN AND NERVOUS SYSTEM

Structure of the Brain and Nervous System

Forming the Brain and Nervous System

The Role of Experience in Brain Development

            Social Policy Perspective: “Can Mozart Stimulate Neural Connections in Infants?”

Neural Plasticity and Sensitive Periods

Larger Developmental Patterns in the Brain

PERCEPTUAL DEVELOPMENT

Robert Fantz and Visual Preferences

Habituation—Dishabituation Research

Vision

Auditory Perception

Perception of Smell and Taste

Intermodal Perception

HEALTH AND SAFETY ISSUES

Childhood Deaths and Safety Issues

Child Abuse and Neglect

            Personal Perspective: One Survivor’s Story

CHAPTER 5

COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT: PIAGETIAN AND SOCIOCULTURAL VIEWS

PIAGET’S CONSTRUCTIVIST VIEW OF COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT

Piaget as a Child Prodigy

Constructivism and Interaction with the Environment

PIAGET’S STAGES OF COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT

Stage 1: Sensorimotor Thought (Birth to 2 Years)

            Personal Perspective: “Where Did It Go?”

Stage 2: Preoperational Thought (2 to 7 Years)

Stage 3: Concrete Operational Thought (7 to 11 Years)

Stage 4: Formal Operational Thought (Approximately Age 12 and Above)

Evaluation of Piaget’s Theory

Piaget’s Legacy

            Professional Perspective: “Career Focus:Meet a Constructivist Teacher”

VYGOTSKY’S SOCIOCULTURAL VIEW OF COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT

Vygotsky’s Background: The Sociocultural Context for a New Theory

The Role of Speech and Language

Mediation: With a Little Help from Your Friends

The Zone of Proximal Development

            Social Policy Perspective: “When Should Children Start School?”

Scaffolding: Support during Learning

RECENT SOCIOCULTURAL VIEWS OF COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT

Situated Cognition

Guided Participation

Thinking as Socially Shared Cognition: Two Heads Are Better than One

CHAPTER 6:  INFORMATION PROCESSING: THE DEVELOPMENT OF MEMORY AND THOUGHT

INFORMATION PROCESSING AND COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT

What Is the Information-Processing Approach?

Processing Capacity and Efficiency

Attention and Attention Defecit/Hyperactivity Disorder

            Personal Perspective: “Meet a Child with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder”

MEMORY DEVELOPMENT

Two Models of Memory: Stores and Networks

Working Memory

Long-Term Memory

Other Characteristics of Memory Development

            Social Policy Perspective: “Children’s Eyewitness Testimony”

DEVELOPING KNOWLEDGE AND STRATEGIES

Knowledge Base

Strategy Development

            Professional Perspective: “Teaching Memory Strategies in the Classroom”

METACOGNITION AND THE CHILD’S DEVELOPING THEORY OF MIND

Metacognition and Metamemory

Theory of Mind

Autism and Autistic Spectrum Disorders

CURRENT APPROACHES TO UNDERSTANDING COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT

Computational Models of Thought

Fuzzy Trace Theory

Information Processing: Where Does It Stand?

CHAPTER 7

Intelligence and Academic Skills

Theories of Intelligence

Psychometric Approaches

Sternberg’s Triarchic Theory

Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences

What about Creativity?

Assessing Intelligence

History of Intelligence Testing

Intelligence Testing Today

      Professional Perspective: “Career Focus: Meet a School Psychologist”

Extremes of Intelligence

Ethnic Differences and Questions about Cultural Bias

            Social Policy Perspective: “Ethnicity and IQ”

DEVELOPING Academic Skills

Mathematics

Reading

            Personal Perspective: “Meet a Literacy Volunteer”

Writing

Problems with Academics: Communication and Learning Disorders

CHAPTER 8

Language Development

What Is Language?

Characteristics of Language

The Structure of Language

Theories of Language Development

Learning Theory: Language as a Learned Skill

Nativist Theory: Born to Talk

Interaction Theories: Cognitive and Social Interactionist Approaches

Development of Language: What Happens When?

Infant Communication: How Language Starts

From First Words to Conversation: Language in Early Childhood

Perfecting Communication: Language in Middle Childhood and Adolescence

            Professional Perspective: “Career Focus: Meet a School Speech—Language Therapist”

Issues in Language Development

Bilingualism: Learning Two Languages

            Personal Perspective: “Meet a Bilingual Family”

            Social Policy Perspective: “Bilingual Education”

Social and Cultural Dialects

CHAPTER 9

Attachment, Temperament, and Emotion

Attachment

The Story of Attachment Research

Mary Ainsworth and the Strange Situation

Parent, Child, and Cultural Factors in Attachment

            Professional Perspective: “Career Focus: Meet a Preschool Teacher”

Fathers, Day Care, and Attachment

            Social Policy Perspective: “Parental Leave Policies in the United States and Other Nations”

Early Attachment and Long-Term Outcomes

Other Measures of Attachment

Temperament

Types of Temperaments

            Personal Perspective: “Meet the Parent of a Difficult Child”

Other Approaches to Temperament

Appreciating Temperamental Differences

Emotion

Infants’ Responses to Emotions

Childhood Emotional Development

Depression, Suicide, and Resilient Children

Tying It Together: Attachment, Temperament, and Emotional Development

CHAPTER 10

THE DEVELOPMENT OF SELF AND GENDER

WHO AM I? THE DEVELOPMENT OF SELF

What Is “Self”?

Changes in Self-Representation across Ages

            Personal Perspective: “Developing an Ethnic Identity”

SELF-EVALUATION AND SELF-REGULATION

Evaluating the Self

            Professional Perspective: “Career Focus: Meet a High School Guidance Counselor”

Self-Regulation

SEXUAL MATURATION AND SEXUAL ORIENTATION

Sexual Maturation

Early and Late Maturation

The Development of Sexual Orientation

THEORIES AND ISSUES IN GENDER DEVELOPMENT

Similarities and Differences Between Boys and Girls

            Social Policy Perspective: “Single Sex Schools: Increasing Opportunity or a Return to Educational Segregation?”

Theories of Gender Development: A Brief Survey

The Development of Gender Concepts and Sex-Typed Behaviors

CHAPTER 11

MORAL DEVELOPMENT

MORAL REASONING AND EMOTIONS

Kohlberg’s Stages of Moral Reasoning

Guilt and Empathy: The Roles of Emotions in Moral Development

MORAL DEVELOPMENT AND AGGRESSION

Aggressive Behavior

Bullying

Conduct Disorder

Juvenile Delinquency and Gangs

            Professional Perspective: “Career Focus: Meet a Juvenile Probation Officer”

MORAL DEVELOPMENT AND RISKY BEHAVIORS

Substance Use and Abuse

Teen Driving

Teen Sexual Activity

Teenage Pregnancy

            Social Policy Perspective: “The Sex Education Debate”

POSITIVE YOUTH DEVELOPMENT

What is Positive Youth Development?

Prosocial Reasoning and Behavior

Religiosity and Spirituality

            Personal Perspective: “Through Our Eyes”

Resilient Children

How Can Adults Help Foster Positive Youth Development?

CHAPTER 12

PEERS, PLAY, AND POPULARITY

Peer Relations, Friendships, AND DATING

Social Relations among Infants and Toddlers

Friendships during the Preschool and Childhood Years

Gender Segregation among Childhood Friends

Friends and Peers in Adolescence

Transition to Dating and Romantic Relationships

CHILDREN’S PLAY

The Social Levels of Play: Parten’s Classic Study

Types of Play from Infancy through Adolescence

            Professional Perspective: “Career Focus: Meet a Toy Company Executive”

            Personal Perspective: “Play at Different Ages”

Cultural Differences in Play

POPULAR AND UNPOPULAR CHILDREN

Categories of Popular and Unpopular Children

A Social Cognition Model of Peer Relations

Consequences of Peer Rejection

            Social Policy Perspective: “How Should We Deal with Aggressive Students?”

CHAPTER 13

Families

FAMILY LIFE

The Family System

Parenting: Best Practices for Raising Children

Discipline: What’s a Parent to Do?

            Social Policy Perspective: “Should Parents Be Licensed?”

            Personal Perspective: “Carrots or Sticks?”

Mothers, Fathers, and Co-Parenting

Sibling Relationships

Grandparents and the Family System

Changing Family Structures

Marital Conflict and Divorce

            Professional Perspective: “Career Focus: Meet a Psychotherapist Who Works with Divorced

                        Parents and Children”

Never-Married Households

Starting Over: Stepfamilies

Adopted Children

Families with Lesbian or Gay Parents

Ethnic Minority Families

CHILD CARE: WHO’S WATCHING THE KIDS?

Nonparental Care and Its Effects

Child Care Quality

Self-Care: Latchkey Kids

Chapter 14

Schools, Media, and Culture

Schools and Development

Early Childhood Education and Kindergarten Readiness

            Social Policy Perspective: “Project Head Start: What Lies Ahead?”

Effective Schooling: What Does It Take?

Cross-National and Ethnic Differences in Schooling

            Personal Perspective: “Meet a Teen With a Music Talent”

How Can We Prevent Problems in Schooling?

Children and the Media

What Kinds of Media Are Children Using?

What Are the Effects of Media?

State of the Art: Newer Forms of Media

Explaining Media’s Effects

            Professional Perspective: “Career Focus: Meet a Marketing Executive”

Cultural Contexts for Development

Cultural Orientations: Individualism and Collectivism

What’s the Neighborhood Like? Urban and Rural Poverty

Coming to America: Immigration and Acculturation

Explaining Culture’s Influence