We made an effort to retain in this edition those qualities of earlier editions that students and professors say they like. One such quality is the division of the book into five parts.■nPart I: Theory and Research in the Development Sciences. This first part presents an orientation to the discipline and the tools of the trade, including a thorough discussion and illustration of research methodologies in Chapter 1 and a succinct review of the major theories of human development in Chapter 2. These chapters illustrate why research methods and theories are important to an understanding of human development. The coverage also analyzes the con-tributions and the limitations of each research method and each major theory.■nPart II: Foundations of Development. Chapters 3 to 6 address foundations of development strongly influenced by biological factors. Chapter 3 focuses on hereditary contributions to human development and illustrates how genes and environments interact to influence most human characteristics. Chapters 4 and 5 focus on prenatal development and on the many prenatal and perinatal 73974_00_FM_ptg01.indd 1519/02/19 11:41 amCopyright 2020 Nelson Education Ltd. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party contentmay be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s). Nelson Education reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.
xviPrefaceNELenvironmental factors that influence a newborn’s health and readiness for adapting to the world outside the womb. Chapter 6 is devoted to physical growth, including the development of the brain and motor skills.■nPart III: Language, Learning, and Cognitive Development. The five chapters of Part III address the many theories and the voluminous research pertaining to the development of language, learning capabilities, and intellectual develop-ment. Chapter 7 begins exploring the growth of perceptual and learning capa-bilities—two crucial cognitive foundations for many other aspects of development. Chapter 8 is devoted to major viewpoints of intellectual growth including Piaget’s cognitive-developmental theory, Case’s neo-Piagetian theory, and Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory. These theories are covered in detail, for each is important to understanding the social, emotional, and language develop-ments that are covered in later chapters. Chapter 9 explores the information-processing viewpoint and connectionist models. The application of information-processing research in everyday contexts is covered through topics such as reasoning and mathematics. Chapter 10 focuses on individual differences in intellectual performance. Here we review the intelligence testing movement, the many factors that influence children’s IQ scores, and the merits of compen-satory interventions designed to improve intellectual performance. The chapter concludes with a discussion of creative abilities and their development. Chapter 11 explores the fascinating topic of language development and addresses a number of intriguing questions such as, Do children acquire language more easily than adults? Is sign language a true language? Does bilingualism promote or inhibit linguistic proficiency and cognitive development?■nPart IV: Social and Personality Development. The next four chapters focus on crucial aspects of social and personality development. Chapter 12 examines the process of emotional development, the developmental significance of individual differences in temperament, and the growth and implications for later develop-ment of the emotional attachments that children form with their close compan-ions. Chapter 13, on the self, traces the development of the self-concept and children’s emerging sense of self-esteem, and the growth of social cognition and interpersonal understanding. Chapter 14 focuses on sex differences and similari-ties and on how biological factors, social forces, and intellectual growth can interact to steer males and females toward different gender roles. The chapter also examines the utility (or lack thereof ) of traditional gender roles and dis-cusses ways in which we might be more successful at combating unfounded gender stereotypes. Chapter 15 examines interrelated aspects of social develop-ment that people often consider when making judgments about one’s character: moral development and aggression.■nPart V: The Ecology of Development. The final section of the text concen-trates on the settings, or contexts, in which people develop—the ecology of development. Chapter 16 is devoted to family influences, focusing on the functions that families serve, patterns of child rearing that foster adaptive or maladaptive outcomes, the impacts of siblings on developing children, and the effects of family diversities and family transitions on child development. Chapter 17 concludes the text with an in-depth examination of three extra-familial influences on developing children: peers, schools, and the impact of media