Child Development: International Edition (9e)

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.

 

 

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           

 

Now, this Ninth Edition builds on its long and successful history with the most cutting-edge research, pedagogy, and supplements package available! It retains all the hallmark features for which Laura Berk’s texts are known and offers a wealth of exciting new features, including:

• New and revised information that reflects major changes and discoveries in the field.
• Over 1,400 new reference citations.
• New Learning Objectives that appear at the start of their corresponding sections to guide students in their reading.
• New Look and Listen active-learning feature that asks students to observe what real children say and do, speak with or observe parents and teachers, and inquire into community programs and practices that influence children.
• New Social Issues: Education boxes that focus on home, school and community influences on children’s learning.
• New Social Issues: Health boxes that address values and practices relevant to children’s physical and mental health.
• New Video-enhanced PowerPoint Presentations for instructors.
• New videos in “Explorations in Child Development” DVD, including Preterm Birth, Autism, First-Grade Science Education, Childhood Obesity, Civic Engagement in Adolescence, and Changing Parent-Adolescent Relationships. 

Chapter-by-Chapter Changes

 

Chapter 1

• Introduction to the concept of plasticity within section on basic issues of development
• Revised and updated section on developmental cognitive neuroscience as a new area of investigation
• New Social Issues box on how family chaos undermines children’s well-being, illustrating the power of the exosystem to affect development
• Expanded and updated section on child development and social policy
• Updated Social Issues box on the impact of welfare reform on children’s development, with U.S. welfare reform policies compared to those of other Western nations

Chapter 2

• Special attention throughout to the advantages of combining research methods and designs
• New examples of research using systematic observation, structured interviews, correlational design, field experimentation, and microgenetic design
• Expanded and updated section on neurobiological methods, with special attention to major methods of assessing brain functioning
• Updated Biology and Environment box on Prenatal iron deficiency and memory impairments in infants of diabetic mothers, illustrating research using event-related potentials (ERPs) as a measure of brain functioning
• Updated Cultural Influences box on immigrant youths

Chapter 3

• Enhanced attention to fetal brain development and behavior
• Expanded and updated consideration of a wide range of teratogens
• New evidence on the long-term consequences of emotional stress during pregnancy
• Introduction to the concept of gene–environment interaction, with illustrative new research findings
• Expanded section on epigenesis, including new examples of environmental influences on gene expression

Chapter 4

•  New research on contributions of sleep to infant learning and memory
• New dynamic systems research on development of walking and reaching
• Updated evidence on how environmental factors, including caregiving practices and the baby’s physical surroundings, contribute to development of motor skills
• Enhanced attention to cultural influences—including infant sleep, gross- and fine-motor development, and perceptual development
• Expanded and updated research on intermodal perception, including its contributions to all aspects of psychological development

Chapter 5

• Updated Social Issues box on sex differences in gross motor development, including the role of physical education in school
• New section on adolescent brain development, focusing on the imbalance between the cognitive control network and the social/emotional network
• Revised and updated section on overweight and obesity, including coverage of contributing factors and health and psychological consequences
• New evidence on key elements of effective sex education programs, including recent evaluations of U.S. abstinence education
• Updated research on contextual factors affecting long-term adjustment of adolescent parents and their children

Chapter 6

• Revised and updated section on infant and toddler imitation, revealing toddlers’ ability to infer others’ intentions
• New section on symbolic understanding, including toddlers’ developing grasp of words and pictures as symbolic tools
• New Social Issues: Education box on baby learning from TV and video, including the video deficit effect and the negative impact of extensive, early TV viewing
• Enhanced discussion of school-age children’s spatial reasoning, with special attention to map skills
• Expanded and updated research on adolescent decision making

Chapter 7

• Enhanced and updated consideration of working memory, its assessment, and its implications for learning and academic achievement
• New section on executive function and its component processes
• New Social Issues: Education box on the impact of “media multitasking” on learning
• Revised and enhanced attention to development of episodic memory, including the relationship between semantic and episodic memory
• Enhanced discussion of differences between preschoolers from middle-income and low-income families in emergent literacy and math knowledge, including interventions that reduce the gap

Chapter 8

• Updated Social Issues: Education box on emotional intelligence
• New findings on IQ as a predictor of psychological adjustment
• New evidence on how culturally acquired knowledge affects reasoning on mental test items
• Enhanced Social Issues: Education box on high-stakes testing, including the impact of the U.S. No Child Left Behind Act on quality of American education
• Enhanced consideration of the potential for supplementary programs to strengthen the impact of Head Start and other preschool programs serving low-income children

Chapter 9

• Updated research on categorical speech perception in humans and other animals
• New evidence on contributions of joint attention and preverbal gestures to early language development
• New findings on how phonological features of the native language influence early vocabulary growth
• Enhanced consideration of research on young children’s grammatical knowledge, including the influence of native-language syntactic forms
• Enhanced attention to effects of bilingual education on academic achievement and long-term educational and occupational attainment

Chapter 10

• Updated evidence on contributions of language development and parenting to preschoolers’ emotional self-regulation
• New research on consequences of effortful control—the self-regulatory dimension of temperament—for cognitive, emotional, and social development
• Updated evidence on contextual factors that contribute to changes in attachment pattern over time
• New evidence on contributions of fathers’ play to attachment security and emotional and social adjustment
• New section on grandparents as primary caregivers and attachment

Chapter 11

• Updated evidence on the school-age child’s theory of mind, including development of recursive thought
• New evidence on preschoolers’ self-concepts, including their emerging grasp of personality traits
• New Research on personal and social factors contributing to identity development in adolescence
• Updated Social Issues: Health box on adolescent suicide
• Enhanced section on children’s understanding of social groups, development of racial and ethnic prejudice, and strategies for reducing prejudice

Chapter 12

• New evidence on the relationship of early corporal punishment to later behavior problems, including cross-cultural findings
• Updated research on cultural variations in children’s moral judgments of truthfulness and lying
• Enhanced consideration of factors that promote moral identity, along with its relationship to moral commitment
• New findings on social-cognitive deficits and distortions of aggressive children
• New section on parent training programs to reduce child conduct problems, with special attention to Incredible Years

Chapter 13

• New evidence on parents’ differential expectations for boys’ and girls’ academic achievement
• Updated findings on teachers’ differential treatment of boys and girls
• New Social Issues: Education box on teaching children to challenge peers’ sexist remarks
• Updated consideration of factors contributing to sex differences in verbal, mathematical, and spatial abilities
• Updated research on sex differences in adolescent depression

Chapter 14

• New research on the long-term, favorable consequences of authoritative child rearing
• Updated section on parenting and adolescent autonomy, including research on immigrant families
• New findings on sibling relationships, including cultural influences and interventions to reduce sibling animosity
• New research on gay and lesbian families, including children’s adjustment and gender identity
• Expanded attention to the role of fathers in children’s development, with special attention to the transition to parenthood, blended families, and dual-career families

Chapter 15

• New findings on the role of positive peer relations in school readiness
• New research on characteristics of adolescent friendships, including implications of other-sex friends for adjustment
• Updated Biology and Environment box on bullies and their victims, including bullies high in social prominence and power and school-context effects on bullying
• Updated evidence on the influence of various media activities, including TV, video games, texting, and social networking sites, on development and adjustment
• New research on the educational consequences of widespread SES and ethnic segregation in American schools
• New Social Issues: Education box on magnet schools as a means of attaining equal access to high-quality education

 

 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

Added and revised material reflects major changes and discoveries in the field. This edition includes over 1,400 new reference citations.

 

6. Beautiful Artwork, Graphics, and Photographs

Visually stunning, the art, graphics, and photos effectively illustrate major points and enhance student interest and understanding.

 

7. Outstanding Pedagogical Features

Exceptional pedagogical features support students’ mastery of the material.

 

Chapter Introductions, Learning Objectives, and End-of-Chapter Summaries

• Each chapter begins with an outline and an engaging real-life story. 
• NEW Learning objectives appear at the start of their corresponding sections to guide students in their reading.
• Chapter summaries are organized by learning objective, encouraging active study.  They also include bolded key terms, which help students acquire and master the vocabulary of the field.

Take a Moment . . .

Built into the text narrative, this feature engages students by asking them to “take a moment” to think about an important point, integrate information on children’s development, or engage in an exercise or an application to clarify a challenging concept.

 

Look and Listen

This NEW active-learning feature asks students to observe what real children say and do, speak with or observe parents and teachers, and inquire into community programs and practices that influence children.

 

Ask Yourself Questions

These questions build on one another and engage students by asking them to Review  what they have read, Connect  what they have read to build an image of the whole child, Apply the material to controversial issues, and then Reflect on their own development and life experiences.

• Review  questions help students recall and comprehend information they have just read.
• Connect  questions help students build an image of the whole child by integrating what they have learned across age periods and domains of development.
• Apply  questions encourage the application of knowledge to controversial issues and problems faced by children, parents, and professionals who work with them.
• Reflect questions help make the study of child development personally meaningful by asking students to reflect on their own development and life experiences. Each question is answered on the text’s MyDevelopmentLab website.

Thematic Boxes

 

Social Issues boxes discuss the impact of social conditions on children and emphasize the need for sensitive social policies to ensure their well-being:

• NEW! Social Issues: Education boxes focus on home, school, and community influences on children’s learning. Examples include Baby Learning from TV and Video: The Video Deficit Effect; Media Multitasking Disrupts Attention and Learning; The Head Start REDI Program: Strengthening School Readiness in Economically Disadvantaged Preschoolers; and Magnet Schools: Equal Access to High-Quality Education.
• NEW! Social Issues: Health boxes address values and practices relevant to children’s physical and mental health.  Examples include Family Chaos Undermines Children’s Well-Being; A Cross-National Perspective on Health Care and Other Policies for Parents and Newborn Babies; and Does Child Care Threaten Infant Attachment Security and Later Adjustment?

Biology and Environment boxes highlight the growing attention to the complex, bidirectional relationship between biology and environment. Examples include A Case of Epigenesis: Smoking During Pregnancy Alters Gene Expression; Prenatal Iron Deficiency and Memory Impairments in Infants of Diabetic Mothers: Findings of ERP Research; Children with Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder; and “Mindblindness” and Autism.

 

Cultural Influences boxes deepen the attention to culture threaded throughout the text and accentuate both cross-cultural and multicultural variations in child development–for example, Immigrant Youths: Adapting to a New Land; Cultural Variation in Sleeping Arrangements; Identity Development among Ethnic Minority Adolescents; and The Impact of Ethnic and Political Violence on Children. 

 

Applying What We Know Tables

This feature summarizes research-based applications, speaking 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.

 

Milestones Tables

These beautifully illustrated tables summarize major developments within each topical area, providing a convenient overview of the chronology of development.

 

In-Text Highlighted Key Terms with Definitions, End-of-Chapter Term List, and End-of-Book Glossary

Mastery of terms is promoted through in-text highlighting of key terms and definitions.  Key terms also appear in an end-of-chapter page-referenced term list and an end-of-book page-referenced glossary.

 

8. Unsurpassed Technology — MyDevelopmentLab

Prepared in collaboration with Laura Berk, MyDevelopmentLab includes a variety of assessments that enable continuous evaluation of students’ learning. Extensive video footage, multimedia simulations, “Careers in Human Development,” and interactive activities–all unique to Child Development–are also included.  

 

9. Valuable Teaching Resources

Instructor’s Resource Manual (IRM) Each chapter includes a Chapter-at-a-Glance grid, Brief Chapter Summary, Learning Objectives, detailed Lecture Outlines, Lecture Enhancements, Learning Activities, “Ask Yourself” questions with answers, Suggested Student Readings, and Media Materials list.

 

Test Bank. The Test Bank contains over 2,000 multiple-choice and essay questions, each page-referenced to chapter content and classified by type.

 

Computerized Test Bank. This computerized version of the Test Bank, in easy-to-use MyTest software, lets you prepare tests for printing as well as for network and online testing. It has full editing capability.

 

PowerPoint Presentation. The PowerPoint presentation provides illustrations and outlines of key topics for each chapter of the text.  A NEW video-enhanced version is also available to instructors.

 

“Explorations in Child Development” DVD and Guide. This DVD is over four hours in length and contains 47 four- to ten-minute narrated segments, designed for effective classroom use, that illustrate the many theories, concepts, and milestones of child development.  New additions include Preterm Birth, Autism, First-Grade Science Education, Childhood Obesity, Civic Engagement in Adolescence, and Changing Parent-Adolescent Relationships. 

 

MyDevelopmentLab

Educators know it. Students know it. It’s that inspired moment when something that was difficult to understand suddenly makes sense. Our MyLab products have been designed and refined with a single purpose in mind–to help educators create moments of understanding with their students.

 

MyDevelopmentLab delivers results in helping students succeed. Its automatically graded assessments, personalized study plan, and interactive eText provide engaging experiences that individualize, stimulate, and measure learning for each student. The Child Development 9e MyDevelopmentLab includes:

• MyVirtualChild, an interactive simulation that allows students to raise a child from birth to age 18 and monitor the effects of their parenting decisions over time.
• A personalized study plan for each student that promotes planning and strategic study of the subject matter, helping the student focus on areas in which he/she has weaker knowledge and understanding
• Assessments tied to many chapter videos and applications, which enable both instructors and students to track progress and get immediate feedback.
• The eText lets students access their textbook anytime, anywhere
• Extensive video footage, including NEW video segments and assessments.
• Multimedia simulations
• Biographies of major figures in the field
• Mini-chapter on Emerging Adulthood
• “Careers in Human Development,” which explains how knowledge of human development is essential for a wide range of career paths. 

MyDevelopmentLab can be used by itself or linked to any learning management system. To learn more about how the new MyDevelopmentLab combines learning applications with powerful assessment, visit www.mydevelopmentlab.com.

 

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 kindergarten child. She has also written the chapter on development for The Many Faces of Psychological Research in the Twenty-First Century (Society for the Teaching of Psychology), the article on social development for The Child: An Encyclopedic Companion, the article on Vygotsky for the Encyclopedia of Cognitive Science, and the chapter on storytelling as a teaching strategy for Voices of Experience: Memorable Talks from the National Institute on the Teaching of Psychology (Association for Psychological Science).

 

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

 

Berk is active in work for children’s causes. In addition to service in her home community, she is a member of the national board of directors and chair of the Chicago advisory board of Jumpstart, a nonprofit organization that provides intensive literacy intervention to thousands of low-income preschoolers across the United States, using college and university students as interveners. Berk is a fellow of the American Psychological Association, Division, 7: Developmental Psychology.