Calvary University

 Faculty of Psychology

Child Development

7th Edition

Laura E. Berk
0-205-44913-1
Cloth
768 pages
2006

Brief Description

Description Long considered the gold standard, the Seventh Edition of this best-selling topical approach to child development continues its tradition of being the most current and comprehensive text available.

Laura Berk, renowned professor and researcher in the field of child development, has revised her Child Development text, adding new pedagogy, a heightened emphasis on the interplay between biology and environment, expanded coverage of culture, and an enhanced focus on education, health, and social issues, including many social policy topics addressed throughout the text. Berk’s revision provides contemporary and cohesive coverage on contexts for development, including but also extending beyond the family to peers, schooling, media, neighborhoods, communities, and societal values and priorities.

In the Seventh Edition, Berk consulted with Canadian contributor Stuart Shanker, accomplished professor of developmental psychology at York University, to expand the text's coverage of Canadian content and to offer an integrated North American representation of the field. This balanced North American perspective provides students with a greatly enriched opportunity to learn about social and cultural contexts for development.

Berk presents both classic and emerging theories in an especially clear, engaging writing style, with a multitude of research-based and real-world examples. Strengthening the connections between theory and applications, this edition's extensive revision highlights the most recent scholarship in the field, giving students an especially clear and coherent understanding of the sequence and underlying processes of child development. The effective topical organization consistently emphasizes the interrelatedness of all development – physical, cognitive, emotional, and social – throughout the text narrative and in special features.

Features

• Meticulously researched material, including more than 1,300 new reference citations, is conveyed to the student in a clear, story-like fashion that humanizes the complex developmental process.
• Outstanding pedagogical features support students' mastery of the subject matter. These include chapter-opening outlines, chapter-opening vignettes, engaging "Ask Yourself" questions at the end of major sections in each chapter, Milestones tables, highlighting of key terms within the body of the chapter, chapter summaries organized by learning objectives and major section headings and including boldfaced terms and photos that aid recall of content, a running glossary, and a page-referenced end-of-chapter term list.
• Practical applications are integrated into the discussion throughout the text and into a special series of tables to show students how sound practice stems from theory and research.
• “Milestones” tables summarize developmental milestones within each topical area, providing students with an overview of the chronology of development. Because of their popularity, the Milestones tables have been adapted into a new convenient, student-friendly form, Milestones Cards, which showcase important developmental attainments in an easy-to-follow, chronological timeline.
• “Applying What We Know” tables summarize research-based applications on many issues. They speak directly to students as parents or future parents and to those pursuing different careers or areas of study, such as teaching, health care, counseling, or social work.
• Four types of thematic boxes are visually linked through a new, unifying design and easy-to-spot thematic icons. These icons make the integrated information more noticeable and accessible to students.
  • “Biology and Environment” boxes highlight the growing attention in the field to complex, bidirectional relationships between biological and environmental influences.
  • “From Research to Practice” boxes integrate theory, research, and applications on topics relevant to teachers, students, educators, and professionals.
  • “Cultural Influences” boxes highlighting many multicultural and cross-cultural variations have been expanded and updated to deepen the attention to culture that is threaded throughout the text.
  • “Social Issues” boxes emphasize the influence of social and public policies on all aspects of development. Key topics related to education and health are addressed equally. Berk emphasizes the role of education at home, at school, and in the community in children's physical, cognitive, emotional, and social development. She also stresses the need for social policies around the world that support the physical and psychological health of children and families.
• “Ask Yourself” questions have been thoroughly revised and expanded into a unique pedagogical feature that promotes four approaches to engaging actively with the subject matter: "Review,” “Apply,” “Connect,” and “Reflect.” The new series of “Reflect” questions helps make the study of child development personally meaningful by encouraging students to take a well-reasoned stand on controversial issues and to relate theory and research to their own lives. An icon included in the Ask Yourself design indicates that the questions are answered on the book’s Companion Website.
• The text's design, artwork, graphics, and photographs have been enhanced. The attractive artwork, updated graphs, and striking photos effectively illustrate major points and facilitate student interest and deeper understanding of the material.
• In-text highlighting of key terms and definitions permits students to review important terms and concepts in context, thereby promoting deeper and more thorough learning. Chapter Summary photos serve as visual prompts that aid students in recalling content introduced in the body of the chapter.
• Expanded coverage of Canadian content offers an integrated North American representation of the field. With its contemporary North American perspective, the text greatly expands students’ opportunity to learn more about cultural and social contexts for development.

New to this Edition

Many topics have been introduced or enhanced, including:

• New illustrations of contexts for development in ecological systems theory (Ch. 1)
• Updated indicators of the status of children in the United States and Canada, with direct comparisons with other industrialized nations (Ch. 1)
• New Social Issues box on the influence of welfare reform on child development (Ch. 1)
• New examples of research illustrating systematic observation, correlational design, natural (or quasi-) experiments, and field experiments
• New Biology and Environment box presenting a field experiment that explores the impact of musical experiences on intelligence (Ch. 2)
• Revised discussion of the internal and external validity of research designs (Ch. 2)
• Updated discussion of basic genetics, including gene–environment exchanges within the cell (Ch. 3)
• Enhanced consideration of fragile X syndrome (Ch. 3)
• New Biology and Environment box on the relationship of the prenatal environment to health in later life (Ch. 3)
• New research on the prenatal consequences of a variety of substances, including Accutane, cocaine, and marijuana (Ch. 3)
• New evidence on long-term consequences of maternal emotional stress during pregnancy (Ch. 3)
• Enhanced discussion of environmental influences on gene expression (Ch 3)
• Revised and updated section on infants’ rapidly developing memory for operant responses (Ch. 4)
• New research on habituation, including the use of habituation tasks to assess both recent and remote memory (Ch. 4)
• New evidence on infants’ attraction to motion and persisting memory for the movements of people and objects (Ch. 4)
• New findings on newborn imitation in humans and chimpanzees (Ch. 4)
• New evidence on motor milestones, illustrating sharp deviations from the cephalocaudal trend (Ch. 4)
• New evidence on how maternal diet during the prenatal period of pregnancy influences newborns’ odor preferences (Ch. 4)
• Revised and expanded section on hearing, including infants as statistical analyzers and rule detectors of the speech stream (Ch. 4)
• New evidence on the development of visual scanning (Ch 4)
• Revised and updated section on object perception, including perception of objects’ paths of movement (Ch. 4)
• Expanded and updated section on intermodal perception, including infants as impressive perceivers of amodal properties (Ch. 4)
• New research on children adopted from Romanian orphanages, bearing on the question of whether infancy is a sensitive period of development (Ch. 4)
• New research on physical activity and sports participation in childhood and adolescence, including the pros and cons of organized sports programs (Ch. 5)
• Expanded and updated discussion of brain development, including a new Biology and Environment box on brain plasticity (Ch. 5)
• New section introducing the emerging field of developmental cognitive neuroscience (Ch. 5)
• Updated section on childhood obesity (Ch. 5)
• New From Research to Practice box on parents’ and teenagers’ discussions of sexual issues (Ch. 5)
• New evidence on the effectiveness of sex education programs (Ch. 5)
• Updated research on the importance of make-believe play in early childhood (Ch. 6)
• New Cultural Influences box on how children in village and tribal cultures learn by participating in adult work (Ch. 6)
• New research on consequences of formal operational thought, including decision making in adolescence (Ch. 6)
• Revised and updated section on development of autobiographical memory, including the influence of the parent–child relationship on the richness of reminiscing, as well as a new Biology and Environment box on infantile amnesia (Ch. 7)
• Updated and expanded section on children’s eyewitness memory (Ch. 7)
• New developments in early childhood literacy and mathematical reasoning (Ch. 7)
• Enhanced consideration of metacognition, including experiences that foster children’s awareness of mental activities (Ch. 7)
• Updated presentation of Sternberg’s triarchic theory of successful intelligence (Ch. 8)
• New research on culture, communication styles, and children’s mental test performance (Ch. 8)
• New evidence on the impact of stereotype threat on children’s test taking (Ch. 8)
• New Social Issues box on the impact of high-stakes testing on children’s learning (Ch. 8)
• Updated research on preschoolers’ strategies for figuring out word meanings (Ch. 9)
• Updated section on bilingual development and education, including Canada’s French immersion programs (Ch. 9)
• New section on development of narrative and discourse (Ch. 9)
• New evidence on emotional self-regulation and its consequences for development (Ch. 10)
• Updated research on children’s fears, including cultural influences and the role of temperament (Ch. 10)
• New research on the stability of temperament (Ch. 10)
• New evidence on cultural variations in attachment patterns (Ch. 10)
• New Cultural Influences box on the powerful role of paternal warmth in development (Ch. 10)
• Updated consideration of the development of prejudice in children (Ch. 11)
• New Cultural Influences box on children’s understanding of God (Ch. 11)
• New research on religious involvement and moral development of children and adolescents (Ch. 12)
• New findings on the development of aggression (Ch. 12)
• New evidence on the powerful role of gender segregation on children’s gender typing (Ch. 13)
• Revised model of development of gender identity and gender-role conformity, with related research (Ch. 13)
• Updated findings on sex differences in mathematical skills, including the importance of teaching children effective spatial reasoning strategies (Ch. 13)
• New research on parents’ use of psychological control in child rearing and consequences for development (Ch. 14)
• New evidence on children’s development in never-married single-parent families (Ch. 14)
• Updated attention to divorce, with special emphasis on long-term consequences (Ch. 14)
• Updated section on child maltreatment, including a new Social Issues box on Healthy Start, Hawaii’s home-visiting prevention program (Ch. 14)
• Revised and updated section on the impact of parenting on children’s peer relations, including direct and indirect influences (Ch. 15)
• Expanded consideration of children’s use of media and developmental consequences (Ch. 15)
• New findings on media violence and aggression (Ch. 15)
• Revised and updated section on educational philosophies, including constructivist and social-constructivist classrooms and the community of learners approach (Ch. 15)
• Current evidence on the impact of school transitions on adolescent adjustment (Ch. 15)
• Updated research on the relation of classroom learning experiences to academic achievement (Ch. 15)

Contents

I. THEORY AND RESEARCH IN CHILD DEVELOPMENT.

1. History, Theory, and Applied Directions.
Child Development as a Scientific, Applied, and Interdisciplinary Field.
Basic Issues.
Historical Foundations.
Mid-Twentieth-Century Theories.
Recent Theoretical Perspectives.
Comparing Child Development Theories.
Applied Directions: Child Development and Social Policy.

2. Research Strategies.
From Theory to Hypothesis.
Common Methods Used to Study Children.
Reliability and Validity: Keys to Scientifically Sound Research.
General Research Designs.
Designs for Studying Development.
Ethics in Research on Children.

II. FOUNDATIONS OF DEVELOPMENT.

3. Biological Foundations, Prenatal Development, and Birth.
Genetic Foundations.
Reproductive Choices.
Prenatal Development.
Prenatal Environmental Influences.
Childbirth.
Approaches to Childbirth.
Birth Complications.
Heredity, Environment, and Behavior: A Look Ahead.

4. Infancy: Early Learning, Motor Skills, and Perceptual Capacities.
The Organized Newborn.
Motor Development in Infancy.
Perceptual Development in Infancy.
Early Deprivation and Enrichment: Is Infancy a Sensitive Period of Development? 5. Physical Growth.
The Course of Physical Growth.
Development of the Brain.
Factors Affecting Physical Growth.
Puberty: The Physical Transition to Adulthood.
The Psychological Impact of Pubertal Events.
Puberty and Adolescent Health.

III. COGNITIVE AND LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT.

6. Cognitive Development: Piagetian, Core Knowlege, and Vygotskian Perspectives.
Piaget's Cognitive-Developmental Theory.
The Sensorimotor Stage (Birth to 2 Years).
The Preoperational Stage (2 to 7 Years).
The Concrete Operational Stage (7 to 11 Years).
The Formal Operational Stage (11 Years and Older).
Piaget and Education.
Overall Evaluation of Piaget's Theory.
The Core Knowledge Perspective.
Evaluation of the Core Knowledge Perspective.
Vygotsky's Sociocultural Theory.
Vygotsky and Education.
Evaluation of Vygotsky's Theory.

7. Cognitive Development: An Information-Processing Perspective.
The Information-Processing Approach.
General Models of Information Processing.
Developmental Theories of Information Processing.
Attention.
Memory.
Metacognition.
Applications of Information Processing to Academic Learning.
Evaluation of the Information-Processing Approach.

8. Intelligence.
Definitions of Intelligence.
Recent Advances in Defining Intelligence.
Representative Intelligence Tests for Children.
The Computation and Distribution of IQ Scores.
What and How Well Do Intelligence Tests Predict?
Ethnic and Socioeconomic Variations in IQ.
Explaining Individual and Group Differences in IQ.
Early Intervention and Intellectual Development.
Development of Creativity.

9. Language Development.
Components of Language.
Theories of Language Development.
Prelinguistic Development: Getting Ready to Talk.
Phonological Development.
Semantic Development.
Grammatical Development.
Pragmatic Development.
Development of Metalinguistic Awareness.
Bilingualism: Learning Two Languages in Childhood.

IV. PERSONALITY AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT.

10. Emotional Development.
The Functions of Emotions.
Development of Emotional Expression.
Understanding and Responding to the Emotions of Others.
Temperament and Development.
Development of Attachment.
Attachment, Parental Employment, and Child Care.

11. Self and Social Understanding.
Emergence of Self and Development of Self-Concept.
Self-Esteem: The Evaluative Side of Self-Concept.
Constructing an Identity: Who Should I Become?
Thinking About Other People.
Thinking About Relationss Between People: Understanding Conflict.

12. Moral Development.
Morality as Rooted in Human Nature.
Morality as the Adoption of Societal Norms.
Morality as Social Understanding.
Moral Reasoning of Young Children.
Development of Self-Control.
The Other Side of Self-Control: Development of Aggression.

13. Development of Sex Differences and Gender Roles.
Gender Stereotypes and Gender Roles.
Influences on Gender Stereotyping and Gender-Role Adoption.
Gender Identity.
To What Extent Do Boys and Girls Really Differ in Gender-Stereotyped Attributes?
Developing Non-Gender-Stereotyped Children.

V. CONTEXTS FOR DEVELOPMENT.

14. The Family.
Evolutionary Origins.
Functions of the Family.
The Family as a Social System.
Socialization Within the Family.
Family Lifestyles and Transitions.
Vulnerable Families: Child Maltreatment.

15. Peers, Media, and Schooling.
The Importance of Peer Relations.
Development of Peer Sociability.
Friendship.
Peer Acceptance.
Peer Groups.
Peer Relations and Socialization.
Television.
Computers.
Schooling.
How Well Educated Are American Young People?

Companion Website:

http://www.ablongman.com/berkcd6e

Copyright © Calvary University, 1998   All rights reserved.
Virtual Learning Centre for Accredited Christian Higher Education