Infants and Children: Prenatal Through Middle Childhood [RENTAL EDITION]

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For courses in Child Development that take a chronological approach

Leading the Child Development market for over 25 years
Infants and Children: Prenatal Through Middle Childhood is relied on in classrooms worldwide for its clear, engaging writing style, exceptional multicultural and cross-cultural focus, first-rate coverage of developmental neuroscience, rich examples, and long-standing commitment to presenting the most up-to-date scholarship. Renowned professor, researcher, and author Laura Berk takes an integrated approach to presenting development in the physical, cognitive, emotional, and social domains, emphasizing the complex interchanges between heredity and environment, and offering research-based, practical applications that students can relate to their personal and professional lives. The 9th Edition’s extensive revision strengthens the connections among developmental domains and brings forth the most recent scholarship, representing the changing field of child development.

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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 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 Infants, Children, and Adolescents, she is author of the best-selling texts Exploring Child and Adolescent Development, Child Development, 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. She is also founding donor of Illinois Art Station, a visual arts initiative, providing children in her community with transformative, educational, and self-expressive experiences, while enriching student and faculty opportunities across disciplines. 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
Historical Foundations
Mid-Twentieth-Century Theories
Recent Theoretical Perspectives
Comparing Child Development Theories
Studying the Child
Ethics in Research on Children

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
Motivations for Parenthood
Prenatal Development
Prenatal Environmental Influences
The Importance of Prenatal Health Care

4. Birth and the Newborn Baby
The Stages of Childbirth
Approaches to Childbirth
Medical Interventions
Birth Complications
The Newborn Baby's Capacities
The Transition to Parenthood

PART III – INFANCY AND TODDLERHOOD: THE FIRST TWO YEARS

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

6. 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

7. Emotional and Social Development in Infancy and Toddlerhood
Emotional Development
Temperament and Development
Development of Attachment
Self-Development

PART IV – EARLY CHILDHOOD: TWO TO SIX YEARS

8. Physical Development in Early Childhood
A Changing Body and Brain
Influences on Physical Growth and Health
Motor Development

9. Cognitive Development in Early Childhood
Piaget's Theory: The Preoperational Stage
Vygotsky's Sociocultural Theory
Information Processing
Individual Differences in Mental Development
Language Development

10. Emotional and Social Development in Early Childhood
Self-Understanding
Emotional Development
Peer Relations
Foundations of Morality and Aggression
Gender Typing
Child Rearing and Emotional and Social Development

PART V – MIDDLE CHILDHOOD: SIX TO ELEVEN YEARS

11. Physical Development in Middle Childhood
Body Growth
Health Issues
Health Education
Motor Development and Play

12. Cognitive Development in Middle Childhood
Piaget's Theory: The Concrete Operational Stage
Information Processing
Individual Differences in Mental Development
Language Development
Children's Learning in School

13. Emotional and Social Development in Middle Childhood
Self-Understanding
Emotional Development
Understanding Others: Perspective Taking
Moral Development
Peer Relations
Gender Typing
Family Influences
Some Common Problems of Development