Description

For Child Development courses in Psychology, Education, Human Development, Child and Family Studies and Early Childhood Education.

Written by a well-respected researcher in Cognitive Development, this text presents the core research, theory and applications of Developmental Psychology organized in a Chronological format. There are three key elements to Kail's approach. First, Kail integrates the field by presenting four fundamental themes in child development research. These themes are used throughout the book to provide students with a foundation. Second, Kail introduces research methods in Chapter 2, and revisits methods again in every chapter. Additionally, each chapter is organized into a series of 3-5 manageable chapter modules and incorporates a number of effective learning tools to help the students retain and apply the information. Finally, Kail includes many applications demonstrating how research translates into practice.

Features

• Emphasis on Major Developmental Psychology Themes—Used to integrate the field, four major themes are presented in Chapter One, and incorporated throughout the text.

  • Provides students with a way to integrate and understand the theories and facts presented across the text.

• In Perspective part-ending features—Review the material covered in the chapters, and connect ideas to major developmental themes.

  • Students see the continuity of ideas across the field.

• Focus on Research features—Research methods are introduced in Chapter Two, and covered in every chapter in this feature. Students get to see the details of important studies, and how researchers go about conducting research.

  • Gives students a thorough introduction to research methods to allow them to become informed consumers of developmental psychology research.

• Looking Ahead features.

  • Describes for students longitudinal research that shows how a specific aspect of development evolves over a child's lifetime.

• Modular Chapter Format with consistent learning tools—Each module opens with learning objectives and a high interest vignette, and ends with review questions.

  • Provides students with tools to organize and retain what they are learning.

• Making Children's Lives Better features.

  • Shows students how research and theory can be applied to improve children's development.

• Cultural Influences features.

  • Shows students how culture shapes children's lives and illustrates that developmental journeys are diverse.

• Real Children features.

  • Provides students with case studies that illuminate an issue in child development in the life of a real child.

• Child Development and Family Policy features.

  • Shows students how research has influenced policy toward families and children.

• End of Chapter learning resources—Detailed Chapter Summaries organized by module, See for Yourself activities, Resources and Key Terms.

  • Provides students with activities and resources to reinforce their learning.

Table of Contents

(NOTE: All chapters conclude with Chapter Critical Review, See For Yourself, For More Information About, Key Terms, and Summary.)

1. The Science of Child Development.

2. Research in Child Development.

3. Genetic Bases of Child Development.

4. Prenatal Development and Birth.

5. Physical Development in Infants and Toddlers.

6. Cognition in Infants and Toddlers.

7. Social Behavior and Personality in Infants and Toddlers.

8. Physical Growth in Preschool Children.

9. Cognitive Development in Preschool Children.

10. Social Behavior and Personality in Preschool Children.

11. Physical Development in School-Age Children.

12. Cognitive Development in School-Age Children.

13. Social Behavior and Personality in School-Age Children.

14. Physical Growth in Adolescents.

15. Cognitive Processes in Adolescents.

16. Social and Personality Development in Adolescents.

Glossary.
References.
Acknowledgements.
Name Index.
Subject Index.

Author

Robert V. Kail is Professor of Psychological Sciences at Purdue University. His undergraduate degree is from Ohio Wesleyan University and he received his Ph.D. from the University of Michigan. Kail has served as Associate Editor of the journal Child Development and is currently Editor of the Journal of Experimental Child Psychology. He received the McCandless Young Scientist Award from the American Psychological Association and was named a fellow in the American Psychological Society. He was also named the Distinguished Sesquicentennial Alumnus in Psychology by Ohio Wesleyan University. His research interests are in the area of cognitive development and focus on the causes and consequences of developmental change in the speed of information processing. Kail has also written The Development of Memory in Children, and, with John C. Cavanaugh, Human Development. Away from the office, he enjoys flying his Cessna 172, playing soccer with his daughter, and working out.