Infants and Children: Prenatal Through Middle Childhood

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A best-selling, chronologically organized child development text, Berk and Meyers’ 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, 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. The authors takes an integrated approach to presenting development in the physical, cognitive, emotional, and social domains; emphasize the complex interchanges between heredity and environment; and provide exceptional attention to culture.

Renowned professor, researcher, and authorLaura Berk is joined by new coauthor Adena Meyers. As faculty colleagues in the Department of Psychology at Illinois State University, they have collaborated on numerous projects, and their distinct areas of specialization and tremendous expertise make them a great team for coauthoring this new edition. Together, they present the latest theories and findings in the field to students in a manageable and relevant way. Berk and Meyers’ signature story-like, conversational 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 and Meyers also help students connect their learning to their personal and professional areas of interest, 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, the authors present classic and emerging theories in an especially clear, engaging writing style, with a multitude of research-based, real-world, cross-cultural, and multicultural examples. Strengthening the connections among developmental domains and of theory and research with applications, this edition's extensive revision brings forth the most recent scholarship, representing the changing field of child development.

This book is also available in an abridged paperbound version, Infants and Children: Prenatal Through Middle Childhood, comprising the complete Chapters 1—13.

Infants and Children: Prenatal Through Middle Childhood, Eighth Edition is also available via REVEL™, an immersive learning experience designed for the way today's students read, think, and learn. Learn more.

013413012X / 9780134130125  I nfants and Children: Prenatal Through Middle Childhood plus MyDevelopmentLab -- Access Card Package, 8/e

Package consists of:

• 0133936724 / 9780133936728  Infants and Children: Prenatal Through Middle Childhood, 8/e

• 0205909744 / 9780205909742  MyDevelopmentLab Valuepack Access Card

“Dr. Berk combines superb scholarship, powerful writing, and a keen sense of organization to produce near perfection . . . Students . . . could not ask for a more informative textbook.”

Murray Krantz, Florida State University

“Berk carefully and seamlessly introduces culturally diverse research findings to create a holistic and accurate understanding of development and its many nuances.”

Maggie Renken, Georgia State University

“The research is presented with a great depth of understanding, not watered down or presented superficially, as in many texts, yet is described and structured in a way that helps students construct an overall, personally relevant understanding of development during childhood.”

Joan E. Test, Missouri State University

“I love the way the narrative keeps the reader’s attention and constantly motivates the information. It is not simply a catalog of facts, but a story about how children develop.”

Dara Musher-Eisenman, Bowling Green State University

“No other textbook covering child development does so as thoroughly as Berk’s Infants, Children and Adolescents in terms of research reviewed and incorporated, exemplary photos, and instructor resources.”

Kate Fogarty, University of Florida

“There is excellent coverage of diversity, and delicate but appropriate discussions on apparent differences between various socioeconomic groups and cultures.”

Stuart Marcovitch, University of North Carolina Greensboro

“Instead of reporting cut-and-dry research findings, the chapters also include applied information relevant to everyday lives in different cultures and ethnic statuses. The colorful tables and pictures not only attract attention, but also [offer the] best illustrations.”

Hiu-Chin Hsu, University of Georgia

“I find most valuable the relevance, currency and integration of research throughout the text, with an interesting and entertaining narrative that makes the research results come alive for beginning students in child development.” 

Joan E. Test, Missouri State University

“Although I have been teaching Child Development for more than 40 years, I found myself learning new concepts from Dr. Berk’s insightful presentation [with] the best research literature on virtually every topic, excellent organization and sequence, and Dr. Berk’s captivating writing style.”

Murray Krantz, Florida State University

“I am impressed by the “Ask yourself” sections; this is the exact way in which I try to encourage my students to approach the material, and I particularly appreciate the emphasis on evidence-based answers rather than opinions.”

Janet J. Boseovski, University of North Carolina Greensboro

“I was very impressed with the attention to diversity issues.”

Dara Musher-Eisenman, Bowling Green State University

“The text does an excellent job of simplifying complex cognitive phenomena in a way that makes them easy to understand. The text makes clear connections that illustrate how developmental research informs—or can inform—education and child-rearing practices.”

Maggie Renken, Georgia State University

 “Empirical studies and their findings are woven into the prose efficiently and with clarity. Classic theories are presented along with more cutting-edge research.”

Sarah Kollat, Pennsylvania State University

“Berk’s books on child development are the quintessential texts for all serious students of child development.”

Dominic Gullo, Drexel University

Key Topics
History, Theory, and Research Strategies; Biological and Environmental Foundations; Prenatal Development; Birth and the Newborn Baby; Physical Development in Infancy and Toddlerhood; Cognitive Development in Infancy and Toddlerhood; Emotional and Social Development in Infancy and Toddlerhood; Physical Development in Early Childhood; Cognitive Development in Early Childhood; Emotional and Social Development in Early Childhood; Physical Development in Middle Childhood; Cognitive Development in Middle Childhood; Emotional and Social Development in Middle Childhood

Market
Readers looking for a thorough overview of child development

Berk and Meyers are faculty colleagues in the Department of Psychology at Illinois State University. They have collaborated on numerous projects, most recently coauthoring the chapter on make-believe play and self-regulation for the Sage Handbook of Play and Learning in Early Childhood.

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.

Berk has been a visiting scholar at Cornell University, UCLA, Stanford University, and the University of South Australia. She has published widely on effects of school environments on children’s development, the development of children’s private speech, and the role of make-believe play in development. She has been featured on National Public Radio’s Morning Edition and in Parents Magazine, Wondertime, and Readers’ Digest, and has contributed to Psychology Today and Scientific American.

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

Berk is active in work for children’s causes. She recently completed nine years of service on the national board of Jumpstart for Young Children and currently serves on the governing board of the Illinois Network of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies. She is a fellow of the American Psychological Association, Division 7: Developmental Psychology.

Adena B. Meyers is a professor of psychology and member of the school psychology faculty at Illinois State University. She received her bachelor’s degree in women’s studies from Brown University and her doctoral degree in clinical-community psychology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and is a licensed clinical psychologist.

Meyers' areas of specialization include contextual influences on child and adolescent development, with an emphasis on family-, school-, and community-based interventions that promote children’s social and emotional functioning. She has served as a consultant to the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL), and as a supervisor of mental health consultants working in Head Start preschool settings. She also supervises clinicians providing mental health services to elementary and secondary school students.

Meyers' publications have focused on school-based consultation; adolescent pregnancy, parenthood, and sexual development; school-based preventive interventions; and the role of pretend play in child development. Her clinical interests include therapeutic interventions related to stress and trauma and mindfulness-based stress reduction. She has taught a wide variety of courses, including introductory psychology, child and adolescent development, human sexuality, introduction to women’s studies, and statistics for the social sciences.

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

II. FOUNDATIONS OF DEVELOPMENT

2. Biological 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

Preparing for Parenthood

4. Birth and the Newborn Baby

The Stages of Childbirth

Approaches to Childbirth

Medical Interventions

Birth Complications

Precious Moments After Birth

The Newborn Baby's Capacities

The Transition to Parenthood

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

Erikson's Theory of Infant and Toddler Personality

Emotional Development

Temperament and Development

Development of Attachment

Self-Development

IV. EARLY CHILDHOOD: TWO TO SIX YEARS

8. Physical Development in Early Childhood

Body Growth

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

Erikson's Theory: Initiative vs. Guilt

Self-Understanding

Emotional Development

Peer Relations

Foundations of Morality

Gender Typing

Child Rearing and Emotional and Social Development

V. MIDDLE CHILDHOOD: SIX TO ELEVEN YEARS

11. Physical Development in Middle Childhood

Body Growth

Common Health Problems

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

Erikson's Theory

Self-Understanding

Emotional Development

Understanding Others: Perspective Taking

Moral Development

Peer Relations

Gender Typing

Family Influences

Some Common Problems of Development