Child development (9th ed ) (9^th Ed.)

A best-selling, topically organized child development text, Berk?s Child Development is relied on in classrooms worldwide for its clear, engaging writing style, exceptional cross-cultural and multi-cultural focus, rich examples, and long-standing commitment to presenting the most up-to-date scholarship while also offering students research-based, practical applications that they can relate to their personal and professional lives. 

Berk takes an integrated approach to presenting development in the physical, cognitive, emotional, and social domains; emphasizes the complex interchanges between heredity and environment; and provides exceptional attention to culture. 

Laura Berk, renowned professor and researcher, presents the latest theories and findings in the field to students in a manageable and relevant way. Berk?s signature storytelling style invites students to actively learn beside the text?s ?characters,? who experience real issues in development, including physical, cognitive, and peer challenges, as well as parenting and educational concerns.  Berk also helps students connect their learning to their personal and professional areas of interest.  Her voice comes through when speaking directly about issues students will face in their future pursuits as parents, educators, heath care providers, social workers, and researchers.  As members of a global and diverse human community, students are called on to intelligently approach the responsibility of understanding and responding to the needs and concerns of children.     

While carefully considering the complexities of child development, Berk presents classic and emerging theories in an especially clear, engaging writing style, with a multitude of research-based, real-world, and cross-cultural examples. Strengthening the connections among developmental domains and among theory, research, and applications, this edition's extensive revision brings forth the most recent scholarship, representing the changing field of child development.

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Part I: Theory and Research in Child Development

1  History, Theory, and Applied Directions

          The Field of Child Development

          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 Research Methods        

          Reliability and Validity: Keys to Scientifically Sound Research  

          General Research Designs 

          Designs for Studying Development       

Part 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    

          Brain Development     

          Factors Affecting Physical Growth

          Puberty: The Physical Transition to Adulthood

          The Psychological Impact of Pubertal Events

          Puberty and Adolescent Health     

Part III: Cognitive and Language Development 

6  Cognitive Development: Piagetian, Core Knowledge, 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  

          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       

          Measuring Intelligence

          What Do Intelligence Tests Predict, and How Well?         

          Ethnic and Socioeconomic Variations in IQ    

          Explaining Individual and Group Differences in IQ   

          Early Intervention and Intellectual Development       

          Giftedness: Creativity and Talent  

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        

Part IV: Personality and Social Development    

10  Emotional Development      

          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        

          Understanding Conflict: Social Problem Solving      

12  Moral Development     

          Morality as Rooted in Human Nature      

          Morality as the Adoption of Societal Norms    

          Morality as Social Understanding  

          Development of Morally Relevant 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       

Part V: Contexts for Development    

14  The Family 

          Origins and 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       

        Peer Relations           

        Media        

        Schooling           

Laura E. Berk is a distinguished professor of psychology at Illinois State University, where she has taught child and human development to both undergraduate and graduate students for more than three decades. She received her bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of California, Berkeley, and her master’s and doctoral degrees in child development and educational psychology from the University of Chicago. She has been a visiting scholar at Cornell University, UCLA, Stanford University, and the University of South Australia.

Berk has published widely on the effects of school environments on children’s development, the development of private speech, and recently, the role of make-believe play in development. Her research has been funded by the U.S. Office of Education and the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. It has appeared in many prominent journals, including Child Development, Developmental Psychology, Merrill-Palmer Quarterly,  Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, Development and Psychopathology, and Early Childhood Research Quarterly. Her empirical studies have attracted the attention of the general public, leading to contributions to Psychology Today and Scientific American. She has also been featured on National Public Radio’s Morning Edition and in Parents Magazine, Wondertime, and Reader’s Digest.

Berk has served as research editor of Young Children and consulting editor of Early Childhood Research Quarterly.  Currently, she is associate editor of the Journal of Cognitive Education and Psychology. She is a frequent contributor to edited volumes on early childhood development, having recently authored chapters on the importance of parenting, on make-believe play and self-regulation, and on the kind

 9 reasons why the ninth edition of Laura Berk’s Child Development continues to be the cutting-edge standard for child development texts:

1. Thoroughly Engaging Writing Style

Laura Berk makes the study of child development both involving and pleasurable for students.  Child Development is written in an engaging, personal style -- one that is highly accessible -- and contains real-life human-interest stories. The author encourages students to relate what they read to their own lives.

2. Appealing and Meaningful Applications

Child Development’s practical applications show students how their learning relates to real-world situations.  Applications are relevant to students pursuing a variety of fields, including psychology, education, health sciences, sociology, anthropology, family studies, social services, and health sciences. 

3. Exceptional Integration of Culture and Diversity

Multicultural and cross-cultural material is presented not only in the text’s research and in many positive and diverse examples, but also through rich photos, figures, and children’s art, which enhance student interest and understanding.

4. Unparalleled Breadth and Depth of Research

Child Development is well known for its up-to-date and comprehensive research coverage, presented with clarity and ease, making the study of child development current, relevant, and enjoyable for students.

5. New and Enhanced Material in Each Chapter