Exploring Child Development

For courses in Child Development that take a chronological approach

Laura Berk’s most concise child development text!
Exploring Child Development provides students with a clear, efficient survey of the most important concepts and research findings in the field of child development. In just 10 chapters, Berk makes classic, contemporary, and cutting-edge theories and research accessible in a manageable and relevant way, with an especially strong emphasis on real-world applications and an exceptional multicultural and cross-cultural focus. Chronologically organized, the text offers a complete introduction to the field, highlighting the most important concepts and research findings. This combination of rich content with concise presentation offers instructors unparalleled flexibility in designing their courses to meet both curricular and student needs.

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Laura E. Berk is a distinguished professor of psychology at Illinois State University, where she has taught child, adolescent, and lifespan development 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 the role of make-believe play in development. 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 a research editor of Young Children, a consulting editor for Early Childhood Research Quarterly, and as an associate editor of the Journal of Cognitive Education and Psychology. She is a frequent contributor to edited volumes, having written the article on social development in The Child: An Encyclopedic Companion and the article on Vygotsky in The Encyclopedia of Cognitive Science. She is coauthor of the chapter on make-believe play and self-regulation in the Sage Handbook of Play in Early Childhood, and the chapter on psychologists writing textbooks in Career Paths in Psychology: Where Your Degree Can Take You, published by the American Psychological Association.

Berk’s books include Private Speech: From Social Interaction to Self-Regulation; Scaffolding Children’s Learning: Vygotsky and Early Childhood Education; A Mandate for Playful Learning in Preschool: Presenting the Evidence; and Awakening Children’s Minds: How Parents and Teachers Can Make a Difference. In addition to Exploring Child and Adolescent Development, she is author of the best-selling texts Child Development, Infants, Children, and Adolescents, and Development Through the Lifespan, published by Pearson.

Berk is active in work for children’s causes. She serves on the governing boards of the Illinois Network of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies and of Artolution, an organization devoted to engaging children, youths, and families in collaborative public art projects around the world as a means of promoting trauma relief and resilience. Berk has been designated a YWCA Woman of Distinction for service in education. She is a fellow of the American Psychological Association, Division 7: Developmental Psychology.

PART I – THEORY AND RESEARCH IN CHILD DEVELOPMENT

1. History, Theory, and Research Strategies
The Field of Child Development
Basic Issues
Scientific Beginnings
Mid-Twentieth-Century Theories
Recent Theoretical Perspectives
Comparing Theories
Studying Development

PART II – FOUNDATIONS OF DEVELOPMENT

2. Genetic and Environmental Foundations
Genetic Foundations
Reproductive Choices
Environmental Contexts for Development
Understanding the Relationship Between Heredity and Environment

3. Prenatal Development, Birth, and the Newborn Baby
Prenatal Development
Prenatal Environmental Influences
Childbirth
Approaches to Childbirth
Medical Interventions
Preterm and Low-Birth-Weight Infants
Preterm versus Small-for-Date Infants
The Newborn Baby’s Capacities
Adjusting to the New Family Unit

PART III – INFANCY AND TODDLERHOOD: THE FIRST TWO YEARS

4. Physical Development in Infancy and Toddlerhood
Body Growth
Brain Development
Influences on Early Physical Growth
Learning Capacities
Motor Development
Perceptual Development

5. Cognitive Development in Infancy and Toddlerhood
Piaget’s Cognitive-Developmental Theory
Information Processing
The Social Context of Early Cognitive Development
Individual Differences in Early Mental Development
Language Development

6. Emotional and Social Development in Infancy and Toddlerhood
Erikson’s Theory of Infant and Toddler Personality
Emotional Development
Temperament and Development
Development of Attachment
Self-Development

PART IV – EARLY CHILDHOOD: TWO TO SIX YEARS

7. Physical and Cognitive Development in Early Childhood
PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT
A Changing Body and Brain
Influences on Physical Growth and Health
Motor Development
COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT
Piaget’s Theory: The Preoperational Stage
Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Theory
Information Processing
Individual Differences in Mental Development
Language Development

8. Emotional and Social Development in Early Childhood
Erikson’s Theory: Initiative versus Guilt
Self-Understanding
Emotional Development
Peer Relations
Foundations of Morality
Gender Typing
Child Rearing and Emotional and Social Development

PART V – MIDDLE CHILDHOOD: SIX TO ELEVEN YEARS

9. Physical and Cognitive Development in Middle Childhood
PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT
Body Growth
Health Issues
Motor Development and Play
COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT
Piaget’s Theory: The Concrete Operational Stage
Information Processing
Individual Differences in Mental Development
Language Development
Learning in School

10. Emotional and Social Development in Middle Childhood
Erikson’s Theory: Industry versus Inferiority
Self-Understanding
Emotional Development
Moral Development
Peer Relations
Gender Typing
Family Influences
Some Common Problems of Development